


Reclamation

by shortandirritablee



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-07-04 16:45:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15845307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shortandirritablee/pseuds/shortandirritablee
Summary: When a series of violent attacks threaten the security of the United Republic, Izumi and Bumi decide they're no longer willing to sit on the sidelines while their parents save the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rough Ages:  
> Bumi (21)  
> Izumi (20)  
> Kya (15)  
> _______________________________________
> 
> Re: military terminology, basic training often splits recruits into Platoons (Yue Bay, Dragon Flats, etc) then into Groups within (Arrow, Bravo, Chakra, Drum, Echo) and even further into "Fire Team Partners" (Bumi+Kenji, Shen+Sunnuk). This is just better for organisational and instructional purposes, and your Fire Team Partner is the person you are responsible for keeping an eye on and making sure they pass inspection etc. Fire Team Partners are responsible for one another as well as the further Groups and Platoons. Normally Groups would be named according to the phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo and so forth) but this world wouldn't have names like Charlie etc so I changed them a bit. Rankings that I'm using for Cadets, Sergeants etc are based on the Canadian military and more of these will come up so just fyi.

“Everyone out NOW!” 

He’d literally _just_ sat down. No sooner had he unceremoniously dumped his field pack and plonked himself down on his cot had Sergeant Shiyu’s thunderous boom echoed through the barracks. On any other day he’d have been impressed by how loud the tiny woman could be -she vaguely reminded him of Aunt Toph- but after a week of training on 24-hour waking rotations in the field, he was still covered in mud and not remotely in the mood for this.

Kenji, equally exhausted and unimpressed, made the first move to get up.

“Come on Bumi,” he hefted his own pack. “The longer you take to get up, the more push-ups she’ll have them doing out there, and I don’t particularly want to be the last team out _again_.”

With a resigned sigh, he lugged his field pack back over his shoulders and jogged to catch up with Kenji outside the barracks. There they saw the rest of group Arrow, Drum and Echo already getting an earful from Shiyu.

“Get in rank, cadets!” Bumi had only a second to glance back and see two more fire-teams trailing behind him. _Not last, thank the spirits_. The Sergeant stood before them, her face stern and her arms crossed behind her.

“Now, since the rest of Yue-Bay Platoon appears to be delayed, we will be spending some _quality bonding time_ together. I want everyone changed into their sportswear and back out here in three minutes. Well? GO!”

After Shiyu barked out the last of her orders, a gruelling series of push-ups, burpees and laps around the camp among other things followed. Eventually, Bravo and Chakra arrived, but it wasn’t until long after the Dragon-Flats and North-Mountain Platoons had already been dismissed to the mess hall.

“So, looks like you had a delightful evening with Sergeant Shir-Shiyu over there huh?” Shen clapped him on the back as Sunnuk trailed behind him.

“You know it,” Bumi drawled. “What took you guys so long anyway? We were out here for _hours_!”

“There was another attack nearby,” Sunnuk explained. “They had to keep us at a distance and since it was between here and the field, we couldn’t move until the threat had been neutralized.”

“Oh please! They should’ve just let me at ‘em,” Shen flexed his muscles and bent some earth around his fist. “I could take any of those rebels any time. Besides, it wasn’t even a big fight.”

“I don’t know about that, check out the squad leaders.” Kenji gestured to Sergeant Shiyu who was now talking to Sergeant Hyo, the group leader for Bravo and Chakra: she looked pale. Shen snorted.

“Oh, please. I’m sure they’re just overreacting to freak out us new recruits. It’s all part of the basic mind games. Has to be,” though he didn’t sound too convinced himself. 

“Besides, even if there were casualties, we won’t hear anything about it until we get leave. You know, the whole ‘no contact’ thing and all.” With that, he headed to the mess hall, eager to eat.

“Do you think it was bad?” Bumi asked Kenji as they stood alone in the courtyard.

“Not sure. If this isn’t just a ploy, then I’d say it takes a lot to spook Shiyu, but Shen’s right: we won’t hear anything else about it until we’re back in civis. You coming?” He followed Kenji into the mess and ate what he could, but he found himself with little appetite.

That evening as he polished his boots, his mind began to wander. If there was one good thing about when he was back home, it was that he always knew what was going on. His parents and their friends were world leaders and it was only ever a matter of eavesdropping with Kya for him to know why dad had been called away this time.

Thinking of back home, he missed his family. Well, half of it. Kya had been his partner in crime since she could walk and talk, and while he was loath to admit it, his mom’s hugs were more powerful than her healing. His dad and brother were a different story. Since expressing his desire to join the Forces, whose creation his dad had even played a role in, things had been tense between the two of them. There’d definitely been occasions over the course of Basic Training where he’d considered quitting and going back to Air Temple Island, but every time, the thought of returning to his father with his tail between his legs made him feel sick. He’d also probably had a harder experience than most recruits given the base’s knowledge of his parents, and while the training officers had finally gotten bored of calling him ‘Little Avatar’, the weight of his father’s position hung heavy over him, whether his friends realised it or not. 

Although they didn’t always understand how he was feeling or the legacy he had to live up to, they made a real effort to treat him like all their fellow trainees; Kenji in particular. His fireteam partner had no issue correcting his drill or uniform, and rarely had the patience for Bumi’s constant difficulty with getting up in the morning which often led to them being among the stragglers for dawn training.

As he started thinking more about home, his mixed feelings turned to excitement about the letters from Izumi that would be in his room when he got back. She knew he wouldn’t be able to receive mail at camp, but she’d told him she’d write anyway and would probably be in Republic City during the solstice for the celebrations there, which appeared to be lining up with his leave period.

With the prospect of seeing his childhood friend, sister and mom in mind, he contentedly finished organizing his kit until Shiyu could be heard shouting ‘Lights Out!’, pulling him from his daze.

_______________________________

 

“So, if we subsidize rice production for the next three years, that should help the Western provinces recover at least marginally from the effects of last year’s drought,” Minister Riuk finally finished. To her surprise however, he turned his gaze to her, not her father. “What do you think of the proposal, Princess?”

Her mouth went dry. Since mastering firebending and finishing at the Academy, her parents had decided she was ready to begin playing an active role in running the nation, and while she certainly appreciated the efforts of most of her father’s ministers in this endeavour, the transition still felt bumpy to her.

“I-uh... I think the proposal is a good idea.”

“And _why_ do you think so, Izumi?” She turned to see the Firelord calmly looking at her. The throne room had never felt so warm.

“Because…” she desperately willed her brain to function and cleared her throat. “Because in subsidizing rice crops, we’d be helping cut the cost of production. This would mean that farmers will see more net profit for what they _are_ able to grow, and will give them more expendable income after taxes, which will… which will promote spending and bolster economic recovery?” She once again looked to her dad, who was now smiling.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself. Minister Riuk, we will implement your proposal.”

“I am most pleased to be of service,” he preened like a flamingo-peacock. Then, he and the other ministers packed up their things- meetings were thankfully over for the day- leaving just the Firelord and Crown Princess.

“Don’t worry so much, Turtleduck. You’re doing well.” She glanced down.

“I just always feel like it’s not good enough though. I mean, it’s like every time I read a newspaper, someone who’s never met me has decided to have an opinion of me. I guess I’m just worried about actually giving them reason to criticize me is all…”

Zuko got up from his position at the head of the table and wrapped one arm around her shoulders as they left the room. 

“I don’t think I should try to sugar-coat this for you, Izumi: people will always criticize you. Sometimes it’ll be valid, sometimes not. But you can’t let your fears stop you from doing your job. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“Look, I know it isn’t easy, but you’re already miles ahead of where I was at your age. You can do this.” Continuing down the hallway, her dad eventually stopped outside his office. 

“Now, I have some paperwork to do. I’d ask you to help, but am I correct in assuming you have slightly more interesting plans?” She smiled.

“Yeah. Kimiko wants to hang out and she might’ve dragged Rya and Wei Li along too. Where’s mom?”

“She had the good fortune to be hounded by the Council of Infrastructure this morning.”

“Lucky her,” Izumi snorted.

“Indeed. Well, we’ll see you later then. Go enjoy yourself sweetie.”

“Will do. See ya, dad.” She quickly hugged him before continuing through the palace to her chambers. After changing out of her formal robes, she made her way to the training pavilion.

When she arrived, Rya and Kimiko were sprawled out on the ground, the latter tracing figures in the air with her firebending.

“Finally!” She sprang up to meet Izumi. “We thought you were gonna be in there _forever_.”

“Yeah we were actually debating bugging the cooks for a bit and raiding the pantry while we were at it.” Rya smirked as she approached. “So how was the meeting?”

“It was okay. Dad actually had me talking about rice subsidies and- “

“Blegh!” Kimi interrupted, “sounds _painfully boring_ ; definitely rather you than me. Now c’mon, Wei Li’s gonna be finishing for the day soon too. You guys wanna go meet up with her?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Izumi smiled. “Maybe if we take the side entrance, we can give the guards the slip before they notice I’m gone!”

“Sounds like a plan.”

********************************

The three of them walked across the Caldera, having successfully escaped the watchful eyes in the palace. As they continued, Izumi found herself regularly turning away from paper stands; she knew her discomfort was irrational, but she still couldn’t help it. After a while however, Rya stopped.

“Hey guys, look.” She’d picked up a paper and brought it towards them. “' _Another Vicious Attack_ ’. On the border between the United Republic and Earth Kingdom by the looks of it; apparently they’re calling themselves the ‘Reclamation Movement’. That’s not where Bumi’s training is it?”

“I don’t think so? I can’t remember where the training base is for sure though…”

“Those poor people,” Kimi peeked over her shoulder and they looked at each other uncertainly. “The Avatar’s gotta be involved, right?”

“Oh, for sure,” said Rya. “There’s no way he’d let that slide. Apparently, it was over pretty quickly -probably thanks to him- but there’s no knowing how many of the culprits escaped.” Izumi made a mental note to ask her parents about it that evening.

“Excuse me, misses?” An annoyed-looking woman appeared from behind a stack of papers. “If you’re going to continue reading that, I think you’ll find it’s five yuans!” She snagged the paper back out of Rya’s hands.

“Sorry!” They said in unison. Their spirits slightly dampened, they quickly made their way to the Caldera Institute of Health, where Wei Li was just getting off her shift. Upon spotting her friends, she eagerly ran up to them.

“Well, let’s get going! I’ve been stuck in that building all day!” She grinned as she caught up to her friends.

They continued walking around aimlessly, and at one point Kimi decided she wanted to brush up on her bending and immediately started throwing fireballs at Izumi who retaliated, much to their friends’ amusement. Wei Li notice the local patrols eyeing them suspiciously and called an end to the spar.

“Not to ruin the fun guys, but we should probably get going. Besides, Miss Princess over here probably needs to get back to the palace soon huh?” _Right_. Dinner with her parents. On their way back, they began discussing their plans for the upcoming festival.

“So: solstice. I hear there’s gonna be a huge party on Ember Island and all the Academy crew is invited. You guys in?” Kimi asked.

“Definitely.”

“Absolutely!”

“I can’t. Sorry,” Izumi responded. “I’m actually going to be in Republic City for the solstice this year. There’s going to be a small function with the Republic leaders after, and mom and dad have said I should go as their representative.”

“Aww bummer!” Wei Li exclaimed. “Still, you’ll get to stay with your parents’ friends, right? I’ve always wanted to meet Master Katara; she seems so cool and _my_ mom’s from the South too!”

“Oh please, Councilman Sokka’s the one you wanna meet,” Rya chimed in. “The nonbending brains behind the team? My kind of guy.”

“No, no, no. You’re _both_ wrong.” Kimi interjected, “the coolest member of Team Avatar is Chief Beifong. Obviously. A bending pioneer who invented a new subset! Now _that’s_ what I’m talking about.”

“Hey, now what about Aang? Or Dad for that matter?” The other girls giggled.

“We’ve met your dad, Izumi.” Wei Li smiled. “Hate to break it to you, but he’s a total dork!” They laughed and continued back into the centre of town, where Izumi once again took the side door into the palace. As she quietly sealed the door behind her and lit a flame in her palm, a gravelly voice emerged from the shadows.

“You know, you have guards for a reason, Izumi.” She illuminated the rest of the corridor and sighed.

“They just get in the way sometimes.”

“Of what? Threats to your safety? I should hope so.” The older woman pulled her in for a hug. “I know they’re annoying. Believe me, _I do_. But sneaking in and out like this, even with your friends… you always have to be prepared for danger. Your father and I just want you to be safe.” In her mother’s embrace, she felt herself relax.

“Sorry, mom.”

“That’s okay, darling. Know that I nag you because I love you.”

“I love you too.” Once she and Mai got back to their chambers, the Royal family settled down for dinner.

“Hey dad, where’s Druk been lately? I haven’t seen him in a while…”

“Oh, he must just be hunting in the interior mountains; he gets as bored cooped up in here as the rest of us. How was the rest of your day?”

“Pretty fun! Kimi, Rya and I met up with Wei Li after work and we just walked around town.”

“ _Without_ her security detail.” She rolled her eyes and her father frowned.

“It was _just_ once and yes I’ve already said I won’t do it again.” Zuko seemed satisfied with her answer and let her continue. “The thing is though, while we were out, we saw a headline about an attack on the Eastern border of the Republic.” She caught her parents quickly glance at each other. 

“I figured the paper didn’t have the whole story given how soon after the fact it was published, so I guess I’m just wondering: what happened?”


	2. Chapter 2

She’d probably been there for the better part of an hour, practicing her forms as she waited at the docks. It felt like it had been years since she’d seen her brother, with the only break from the monotony of Air Temple Island being the occasional instances her mom was free to spar. Her father had yet to come back, but she didn’t think it would be long until he returned; Tenzin had important _training_ after all. With each passing thought, her water became more and more rigid until eventually she gave a final splash and huffed.

“I sure hope that hissy fit isn’t because of me.” She spun around. Having been so consumed by her foul mood, she’d completely missed him stepping off the ferry, duffle bag in tow.

“Bumi!” She leapt into his arms as his belongings fell to the ground forgotten. He then lazily draped and arm around her as they made their way home.

“So, tell me, little sister,” he smirked. “What have you been up to while I was gone? Manage to get into some trouble?”

“Always. Part of it was the usual: skipped a bit of school with some friends, but then I managed to adapt dad’s pie-throwing technique to waterbending. Pretty accurate hit rate too, I must’ve got eight out of the eleven acolytes!”

Bumi guffawed.

“I bet mom and dad _loved_ that!”

“Mom made me clean the courtyard and their clothes _without_ bending. Dad had to put on his ‘Avatar’ voice but I could tell he was impressed. Tenzin just told me to grow up.”

“Ah, yes. Our hooligan brother. Did he do anything aside from meditate or will he still be in the gazebo where I left him?” She snorted.

“As a matter of fact, he did. Dad had him practicing going through the spinning doors which, let’s be real, even I can do so it can’t be _that_ hard. Then he had him on some more advanced techniques before he left.”

“So, I take it father dearest is still away?” She couldn’t help but notice the slight disappointment under his joking demeanor. They didn’t always get on but perhaps he’d still been hoping he’d be there to greet Bumi after so many weeks away from home.

“Yeah but he shouldn’t be for much longer. From what I gathered before Aunt Toph caught me, it’s a smaller-scale skirmish. Guerilla tactics. I didn’t get the full details though.”

“That’s okay. I’ll get the rest from Izumi once she’s here and pass it on to you. She should be here any time this week.”

“Nice. So, are any of your military friends gonna come visit? Could be fun.” He smiled.

“Yeah. I’m thinking of having some of the platoon over for a bit. They’re with their own families right now though.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah.”

They passed the rest of the walk in comfortable silence, eventually seeing the glow of the main patio. Upon entering, they were greeted by their mother, Tenzin, Uncle Sokka, Aunt Toph, Lin and Suyin.

“Look alive, soldier!” Sokka said as Bumi was enveloped in a series of hugs, and kisses from Katara which he reluctantly accepted. “So? How’s the forces treating you? I can’t believe you’re still with them after they threw you into a _potato sack_ ; that’s some true Water Tribe determination right there!” 

She saw Bumi blush slightly. Though they often wished more people would acknowledge their Air Nomad heritage, they always felt a warm sense of pride and belonging whenever their mom, uncle or grandpa drew attention to their Water Tribe attributes. As he was about to thank Sokka and start recalling his experiences, a voice trailed in from the kitchen, soon followed by its owner.

“Aunt Katara, is it okay if I make some- BUMI!” She ran up to him, tackling him to the floor. 

“Izumi!” He grinned; Kya had decided not to tell her brother of her arrival. “How was your trip over? How long have you been here?”

“It was great! Dad let me take Druk since he’s been getting antsy lately; he’s flown back now but I’ve only been here a little while.”

“It’s so good to see you we really need to do some _catching up_ ,” he emphasised the last part, hoping she’d catch on to his wanting to know more about the attacks. She did.

“Absolutely! So, you up for a bit of knife throwing? Have you been practicing or am I going to kick your butt again?”

“Oh, it is _on_ , jerkbender!” The pair of them ran out to the training yard, Katara calling after them.

“Don’t be out too long; we’ll be eating soon! And don’t break anything!”

“Yes, Mom!” “Yes, Aunt Katara!”

“ _Jerkbender_ ,” Uncle Sokka wiped his eyes. “I’m so proud!” 

Tenzin piped up.

“Is it safe for them to be doing that?” Kya giggled.

“Oh please,” she responded. “They’ve been doing this since they were younger than _you_.”

“But that was always with Mai’s supervision.” Katara added.

“Quit your worrying, Sugar Queen! They’re old enough to handle some blades.” Kya sat back next to her uncle as they watched her aunt and mother bicker; it was a bit of a tradition by this point. Disinterested, Tenzin stood up.

“Well, if they have time to train then so do I.”

“Have fun, Egghead.” Her uncle chortled next to her.

“You shouldn’t call him names,” he reproached. “But that was a good one.”

“Oh, please. He gets more than enough special treatment. Knocking his ego won’t hurt.” Sokka sighed.

“You know, you could always talk to your old man. I mean, _I_ could too if you want.”

“There’s no point, Unlce. It won’t change the fact that Tenzin is the only other airbender in the world. It’s just, would it _kill_ dad to train with me once in a while? He’s a waterbender too after all.”

“I hear you, kiddo. Let me know is all and tell Bumi to do the same.”

“Thanks,” she said as she burrowed into his side, letting herself drift back to Toph and Katara, still caught up in their own conversation.

 

________________________

The gentle thud of knives digging into wood was a sound he’d enjoyed from a young age. Izumi was right: he hadn’t been practicing, but he was loving every minute of it and relishing in the achievement he felt when his blades _did_ hit their mark. It made him feel a sense of calm he rarely achieved on the island; with the constant bustling of acolytes around him, it was nice to be able to hone all of his senses towards a single target, drowning out the noise around. It reminded him of the first time he’d thrown knives with Izumi when they’d both been very young.

********************************

_He’d spent most of the day sulking, as six-year-olds are wont to do when they feel their parents aren’t paying enough attention to them. Kya seemed to be the only thing his mother and father had time for, and he felt left out and bored. He was also starting to understand something else was going on: he was nearly seven and had yet to bend anything. He remembered walking into his parents’ room later, demanding to know._

_“Mommy, when am I gonna bend?” She’d been holding a sleeping Kya at the time, but she moved one of her hands to ruffle his puffy hair. A sad smile played on her face and she glanced to his father; they shared a knowing look. Putting his sister in her cot, his parents each took one of his hands and they walked outside, swinging him occasionally._

_“Sweetie,” his mother began, “not everyone can bend.”_

_“But you’re the best waterbender in the world and daddy’s the Avatar!”_

_“I know, baby. But I don’t think you can.”_

_Not even Uncle Sokka, an equally important man in his own right and a nonbender himself could cheer Bumi up. He’d tried showing the boy how to throw his trusty boomerang and even let him have a swing with his sword, crafted under Master Piandao’s supervision after the war, but even his Uncle’s combative skills as a nonbender seemed to have skipped over Bumi. Feeling increasingly desolate, Bumi soon found himself sat in his room and laying on his bed._

_“Bumi!” Katara had called. “Come on out please!” He heaved himself up and plodded down to the kitchen, where he saw the Firelord, Firelady and Crown Princess. He didn’t care why they were suddenly stood in his kitchen, all he wanted to do was fling himself at the Princess, so he did._

_“Hi Bumi!” She gave him a gap-toothed grin and hugged him back. Her hair was pulled back in a phoenix tail and while she and her mother were both in casual robes, her father was wearing his crown. The Avatar joined them, and together, he and the Firelord left. In her father’s absence, Kya began fussing, and his mother addressed him distractedly._

_“Why don’t you kids go play outside for a bit huh? It’s lovely out right now but it’s supposed to rain later.” Izumi perked up._

_“Yeah! Wanna go spar?” Ah, yes. He remembered from their last trip to the South Pole that Izumi had already been making flames at five years old, which according to what he’d heard from his parents was earlier than most children. He folded his hands in front of him, looking down at the ground._

_“Imnotabender.” He quietly declared. However, news that had pained his parents so much to tell him seemed to have no effect on her, she was completely unfazed._

_“Oh. Okay.” She glanced to her own mother and then back at him. “Wanna go throw some knives?” Katara gasped, trying not to disturb a newly calmed Kya in her arms._

_“Relax, Katara.” Mai had smiled- still an uncommon sight. “I’ll keep an eye on them, they’ll be fine.” Begrudgingly, Katara had nodded in his direction and Izumi grabbed him by the wrist running with him outside, Mai trailing behind. When they got to the training grounds, Mai unrolled her sleeve and handed a knife to Izumi._

_“Okay, Izumi. You remember how to do this?” The princess nodded, breathing in, she brought her right arm back. With a twist of her hips and a flick of her wrist, she flung the knife ahead of her, embedding it just slightly off target._

_“Great job,” the Firelady praised her. “Less movement in the hips, and you’ll hit it next time.” Izumi threw again, and with Mai’s instruction, the knife flew true. Then the Firelady turned to him._

_“Do you want to give it a go?” He nodded shyly. She crouched next to him, placing the knife in his hand. “You saw what Izumi did, right?” He nodded again. “Okay, so you need a firm grip of the handle- not that firm now- and what you’re going to do is bring it back and then throw it forward. Don’t worry about hitting the target at all, it’s all about technique right now.”_

_He nodded again, bringing the knife back past his ear. Then, as Izumi had done, he brought the knife forward and let it fly. He didn’t get it dead centre, but he did hit the target, and hard. It was firmly stuck in the painted wood._

_“Well done, Bumi.” Mai had said as Izumi clapped. They continued outside until the rain came pouring down, forcing them to abandon the yard. Bumi didn’t know how to describe how happy he felt._

**************************

“So,” his thoughts returned to his current exercise. “Kya thinks these attacks out East are just basic thug activity: guerilla fighting and looting. Do you have any info to contradict that?” Izumi scrunched her face as she pulled out a knife she had embedded particularly deep into the target and glanced around to check for anyone listening before finally facing him.

“As a matter of fact, I do. Kya’s right about their tactics: using small groups who know the terrain to attack border outposts at their weak points. But they’re too organized for thugs. Dad said they aren’t looting like regular bandits either. They don’t steal gold or even weapons; they’re going for the granaries and farmland.”

“What? Why? What use could they have for those things but not money or arms?”

“Our parents aren’t sure yet. I have an idea, though.”

“Well, let’s hear it.” She glanced around again.

“I think there are more of them than what they want us to think. Some of them keep getting captured, but every time they come back, they’re attacking with roughly the same numbers. And the ones who are captured generally don’t know enough to be useful, like they’ve just been receiving orders through a- “

“Chain of Command…”

“Exactly. I think the fact that they’re going for grain and other foodstuffs also indicates continuous regrouping. They aren’t trying to feed a small rebel group; they’re trying to sustain an army. More to the point, I think they’re trying to weaken the Republic’s defenses.”

“That would explain why they’re attacking the border.”

“Exactly.”

“But it still doesn’t make sense though. _Why_ are aren’t they stealing weapons or money?” She sighed and started fiddling with the knife in her hand.

“Because they already have a supply. They don’t _need_ to steal it, and grain theft would cause a lot less of a public outcry than militia supplies, so why risk making themselves look like a bigger threat than they are? They’re flexing their fingers, but they don’t want our parents to be too concerned about it just yet.”

“Okay. Sure. But assuming they have a steady stream of those kinds of supplies already coming in, where are they getting them from? I mean, there’s only one organisation I know that could _possibly_ fund a…” he trailed off as she continued looking at him, stone-faced. “Izumi, you can’t be serious!”

“I am. I think there’s a mole in the Forces, and that for whatever reason, they want to help a militant group destabilize the Republic.”

“Have you told your mom and dad any of this?”

“No. I wanted to see how crazy my idea sounded. So, what do you think?”

“I think,” he contemplated what she’d said. As he went through her theory, he found it exceedingly difficult to poke a hole in her logic. “You could be onto something.” She relaxed. “But we need to investigate more. We need to find a motive.”

“You’re right. How do we do that though?”

“Well, if they’re attacking at the borders, then that’s where we need to be. Some of my friends from the military are on leave too, and they can come for backup. We don’t need to tell them what we’re doing- although they probably won’t care- but the numbers will help. If we can identify who these people are, we may be able to figure out why they’re doing this and then- “

“You can investigate more back at Basic. See which officers could be sympathetic to their cause!” She finished, grinning.

“We can’t talk too much about this though,” he added. "If your theory’s right and people catch wind of what we’re doing, our whole plan is blown.”

“Absolutely.”

In that instant, a deep bellow came from overhead. Bumi looked up and smiled.

“Appa!” He yelled. They chased the flying figure back to the main house and arrived just as a tall figure gracefully jumped off the bison which landed a small distance away. As the man turned to face him, he suddenly felt a wave of stress wash over him. To his surprise, Avatar Aang looked equally uncertain.

“Hey, dad.”

“Hey, Bumi. You look well.”

“Thanks,” his father closed the distance between them and gave him an exhausted hug- he must’ve only just finished dealing with the crisis and flown back immediately. When he saw Izumi, he smiled.

“Hey, Princess! How’re your parents doing? They gonna be in town too? Zuko didn’t mention anything about it but maybe they changed their minds?”

“Hey, Uncle Aang. Yeah, they’re good.” He gave her a tired hug too, “they won’t be in town though. Big public solstice celebrations back home that need attending.”

“Sounds great. It’s always nice to hear about parties in the Fire Nation; your dad doesn’t relax nearly enough. Hey, did I ever tell you about that time during the war where Katara, Toph Sokka and I threw a party in a Fire Nation cave? Still have friends from that evening!”

“Yes, you did, and Dad probably still won’t really take any time off,” she rolled her eyes. “But Aunt Kiyi and Uncle Tom-tom will be in town so maybe he’ll take his mind off work for more than five minutes.” Aang chuckled.

“One can only hope.” The rest of his family then came to greet him. Bumi and Izumi looked at each other; they could continue working on their plan later.

The remainder of the evening passed easily. Aang and Bumi were both glad to be back home and made an effort to ignore their differences for the time being. After dinner, as Sokka regaled them with another tale of his trusty boomerang, Bumi made his excuses and left for his bedroom. He then spent the rest of the evening ruminating over what Izumi had told him, until finally, he fell asleep.

______________________

After having spent most of the week hanging out with Bumi and being shown around the city by him and Kya, Izumi then found herself getting ready in her room for the Solstice. She was expected to arrive later in the evening; she wouldn’t be giving an address, but she would be there with other prominent members of Republic City. She finished applying her lipstick and putting up her hair, wondering if any military officials would be there; perhaps tonight would lend credence to her theory. As she was finishing preparing, a rap at the door brought her from her thoughts.

“You ready to go?” Katara smiled at her.

“Yeah. Just need to put on my necklace.” Her anticipation for the evening’s events caused her to keep missing the clasp around her neck.

“Let me,” she relented as Katara effortlessly fastened the necklace for her. “Perfect.” It always surprised her how much she looked like her mother. Sure, she had her dad’s eyes, but almost everything else was mom, from the jet-black hair to her high cheek bones. Katara did a once-over, herself dressed in her formal robes, then the two of them met Aang outside.

“Try not to die of bordem,” Bumi called from just inside the temple.

“I’ll do my best!” She responded as Appa flew.

They soon arrived at city hall, the location for the evening’s celebration, where Sokka and Toph were waiting for them, the former dressed in a traditional Water Tribe piece with a flair of Republic City modernity, the later having not even bothered to change out of her metal uniform.

“Looking good there, Princess.” The earthbender found herself exceedingly funny, and Izumi chuckled at the long-since overused joke.

“Thanks, you too,” she responded wryly.

They entered through the main door, Appa flying away to rest on the roof- he was getting too old to be around all these noisy people. She was greeted by a series of officials, who she smiled to and made quick work of their small talk and slipped away from her parents’ friends who were being accosted by some councilman or another, continuing to scan the room. 

A cursory glace allowed her to see all manner of people there that evening: investors in what had once been just her father and Aang’s brain-child, and who now carried significant influence in the city. She also saw the head of the now complete general hospital, as well as Toph’s successor as Head Master of her metalbending academy. She noticed Katara intently discussing something with a woman she believed to be an instructor at the waterbending combative school, whose curriculum Katara had been heavily involved with. 

Glass of wine in hand, she moved around some more, until she was found by the people she’d been searching for herself.

“Ah, your Royal Highness!” A portly man with an impressive mustache approached her, flanked by several other people in uniform. “What an absolute pleasure it is to have you in the Republic for the Solstice, I take it you’ve been enjoying the event so far?” He was in uniform and his shoulder boards bore the United Republic crest as well as two crossed swords- a flag officer.

“I’m thrilled to be in the city for tonight’s function and really, it’s been a wonderful evening so far.” She put on her best smile, which the older man returned.

“I am _delighted_ to hear it! Come now, why don’t I introduce myself and my companions? Commodore Jinzuk, at your service,” he announced with a pompous flair. 

“Captain Hao,” he gestured to the man immediately to his left. “Lieutenant Ling,” the young man next to Hao bobbed his head at her. “And Major-General Luo,” the woman to his right smiled.

“I take it most of you are Navy then?” She asked. “Aside from the Major-General, I don’t see any other army officers.”

“Right you are my dear,” Jinzuk affirmed. “Most of the army is still out in the east or overseeing the training of new recruits. Besides, a lot of them are of Earth Kingdom descent, and they often find soirees like these quite pointless. I’ve certainly had my fair share of senior officers complaining to me of such.”

“Really, Commodore?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Princess! I mean nothing by it. However, they really are a people who’d rather get their hands dirty instead of coming together like this, our Chief of Police is another example of course,” He smiled.

“And it’s not just because they aren’t invited to these functions?”

“Well as we all know; non-commissioned officers are rarely required at events such as these. The earthbenders are _astutely_ aware of this, hence they don’t bother soaring through the ranks; keeps them closer to the ground so to speak. Of course, they do have their own task force: highly competitive too.” His companions nodded and smiled in agreement, but she wasn’t convinced. Not wanting to irritate the Commodore and lose his attention however, she let it slide.

She continued around the room with them, sometimes catching Sokka or Aang’s eye and smiling- she was okay and didn’t need rescuing from these people just yet. As the conversation transitioned to the Fire Nation influence on the new Republic’s military, she noticed a lone officer standing by the wall, looking rather disinterested.

“Who’s that man?” She asked, noting the three crests on his shoulder boards. “A Colonel, right?”

“Correct again, Princess.” Jinzuk picked up another glass of wine even though his face was starting to flush. “ _That_ man is Colonel Sud. Another fine example of an earthbender who’d rather be smashing boulders than socialising here, and one whose qualms I regularly find myself on the receiving end of. Come now, let’s not bother him. Have you met the Admiral? I believe he’s supposed to arriving any moment now…”

She continued around the hall, meeting the Admiral – a stern-looking Fire Nation man- and greeting other important guests, but always keeping an eye on the Colonel whether he noticed her or not. The Commodore’s comments about the Earth Kingdom officers struck a chord with her and the more she looked, the more she noticed how many of the senior and flag officers were of Fire Nation descent, there were even still few Water Tribe officers aside from the Lieutenant present. Perhaps she’d be able to bring this up with Sokka next time she got speaking to him.

The evening soon wound down, and as she was getting ready to leave with Aang and Katara, she did one last cursory glance for the Colonel, but he had gone.


	3. Chapter 3

It didn’t surprise her to find most of Air Temple Island still asleep when she woke up the next day. She’d always been an early riser and back when she was young it had served as an indicator of her bending before ever creating her first flame, and she found she revelled in the feeling of solitude. Back home, there were usually several guards and servants all tuned to wake up as the sun rose like she did, bustling around and maintaining the palace. Here, mornings were quiet.

After preparing some tea and grabbing a few leftover sticky buns, she made her way to the gazebo, several documents in hand. Following the meeting with Minister Riuk, her father had put her in charge of overseeing the implementation of the rice subsidy, and she intended to finish the job to the highest standard possible for her parents. And although far from the rebel intrigue she had discussed with Bumi, this was important for her people.

Allowing her mind to wander back to the attacks, she was glad she’d gone over her ideas with Bumi. Her parents would have simply urged her to let them handle it and focus on her work in the Fire Nation, but Bumi listened as he always did. When her Grandpa Iroh died, it was Bumi who had comforted her while her mother had been busy holding together the crumbling pieces that had been her father.

Flicking through the first few pages of the proposal, she sighed. It really was boring. How her father managed to juggle all these figures for so many regions baffled her, and she once again felt a heavy pressure on her shoulders; at this point, she’d grown accustomed to the crushing sensation and anxiety that came with her position, but that didn’t mean it no longer annoyed her.

After another hour of trying to focus on numbers, she gave up. Perhaps her time would be better spent training- Firelords were required to be impeccable benders, after all.

She quickly walked back to her room and changed. The rest of the Island was only just starting to wake and after donning knee-length pants, her bindings and a black cropped top, she headed out into the hallway, tying her hair in a bun as she went. When she passed through the kitchen she saw Katara, herself getting ready for the day.

“Morning Izumi,” she called from where she sat. “I take it you’ve already been up for a while?”

“Yeah but I got myself some breakfast already. I didn’t miss anything cleaning up, did I?”

“Nonsense, dear. The place was spotless when I got up and besides, far be it for us to deprive the acolytes of something to do.” It was no secret that Master Katara felt little love towards them. “Of course, I don’t _mind_ having them around, but it certainly doesn’t hurt considering how helpful they are.” Izumi snorted.

“I’m sure it doesn’t.”

“Well, are you off to do some bending then? I’ll probably do a bit myself once Kya decides to show her face.” She smiled to herself, “enjoy, sweetie.”

“Thanks!” Izumi called as she headed down to the lower grounds. It was closer to the beach and more private thanks to a particularly large cliff; residents of Air Temple Island knew she could often be found here. 

As she first motioned her hands down to begin and welcomed the sun’s presence into her body, she felt all the previous tensions from the morning dissipate. She took in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling. Then she began.

At first, her fire came out in a series of bursting flames. Sharp kicks and thrusts- exceptionally powerful, her masters had praised her. When her body warmed up, she allowed her motions to become more fluid, watching the flames trail from her fingertips and toes while she spiralled around her field. As her joy grew, so did her fire.

Eventually, she began forming massive leaps into the air, flipping and allowing her flames to push out with her aerial movements. She surrounded herself in a blanket of oranges, yellows, and reds, relishing in a warmth too stifling for those who hadn’t received Agni’s gift like she had; it was something she was thankful for every day, constantly feeling the warmth of the sun down to her core regardless of whether she was outside or not. She was reminded of one of her trips to the South Pole during their winter and how unsettling the near-constant night had been, how lethargic she’d felt.

With a final thrust into the air and a spinning kick, she sent a spiral of flames out into the sky and finished her final advanced kata. As she felt herself winding down, she closed her eyes and took another deep breath. _The cold-blooded fire_ , her grandpa had called it. She extended her index and middle fingers on both hands and began to circle them, creating a loop above and below her. It was a funny feeling, to drag her hands through thin air and feel a resistance, the tingling sensation of static, ready to be generated. It was an extremely intuitive form of bending, and upon sensing she’d gathered just enough energy, she changed her stance and brought her hands together, shooting them out as she did so.

She still wasn’t used to the crack that echoed and the tickling in her fingertips, but she loved to watch the lightning move. Once it had been released it was completely wild. It moved in every direction, jagged and splintering off at random points, out of control yet always certain: always moving forward.

Exhaling and thrusting her empty palms down, she finished for the day. She could tell it was midday as she walked, still sweaty and ready to clean herself off for the day. She passed the docks just as the ferry departed and while there, noticed Bumi walking a distance ahead of her, already almost at the temple, with the figures of three men she didn’t know.

______________________________________

He loved how noisy they could be. After picking up his friends at the ferry terminal, the four of them had boisterously made their way back to the residential part of the island and from there had begun raiding the kitchen, chatting and laughing as they did so.

“Oh please! You were absolutely terrified of Shiyu at first,” Shen called from across the room, wrestling with a particularly stubborn jar of pickles.

“Like you were any better,” Kenji retorted. “Or have you forgotten that time you left your duffle bag unchained and she dumped it outside the back of the barrack while it rained the whole day? You wouldn’t go near her for a week!”

“Hey, let’s not forget that time Bumi forgot to lock up his laundry bag and Hyo made him carry it around like a baby for the rest of the day!” Sunnuk chimed in.

“Yeah, yeah,” Bumi snorted. “None of us has anything on you though. Last time I checked _you_ were the one who had the pleasure of a correctional meeting with Colonel Sud.” Sunnuk shivered. 

“Yeah, that guy is a hard-ass and his punishments are far from amusing.”

“Dude, what did you even _do_?” Kenji asked.

“Accidentally flooded the trenches during waterbending training and caused a mudslide. Wasn’t even hard to fix but I still thought the Colonel was gonna crush me with some boulders…”

“That was _it_?” Bumi couldn’t believe it. “Kya makes mud slides all the time. Seems unnecessary to me.”

“Well, you know what he’s like. Loves his Earth Kingdom regs.”

“What?” Shen piped up, “we get shit too, you know! Besides, I don’t hear you guys complaining that the Commissioned Officers are almost _all_ Fire Nation.”

“Yeah but it’s nowhere near as bad for you guys. Even Kenji over there and he’s only half Earth Kingdom.”

“So are you!” Kenji replied.

“Yes, but I’m a _water_ bender. Everyone knows it even if they don’t say it: only earthbenders and Earth Kingdom nonbenders ever make the cut for Colonel Sud. Eventually, they all get recruited for the task force.” Bumi hated to admit it, but Sunnuk had a point. Though they’d both had differences in their Water Tribe lineage- Sunnuk being Northern and Bumi being Southern- their lack of Earth Kingdom heritage had really forced them to bond.

Shen appeared resolutely unconvinced, but Kenji started to look uncertain.

“I guess you might have a point? Maybe it _is_ a little less than fair…”

“What’s less than fair?” At that moment, Izumi walked into the kitchen, her hair messy and her clothes clinging to her.

“Hey,” Bumi said.

“Hey guys,” she responded. She was greeted by hellos from his friends, except for Kenji.

“ _Hiii_ ,” His voice cracked, and he looked like an antelope-deer caught in headlights. The room when silent and her face turned completely blank. Then she covered her mouth with her hand a scampered out of the kitchen.

“Smooth,” he heard Shen whisper.

“Which one of you is she trying not to laugh at?” His uncle must have passed her in the hallway leading to the kitchen. At that point, Bumi couldn’t help it. He started _cackling_ , Shen and Sunnuk too. Kenji, now completely red, slammed his face on the table and sheepishly raised his hand. Sokka joined in the laugh.

“Way to make a first impression, kid! What’s your name?”

“…Kenji, sir.” 

“Fantastic, Kenji!”

“I think a more important question,” Sunnuk cut in, “would be who _is_ she?”

“Yeah Bumi,” Shen added. “You never mentioned there were girls like that on the island. Frankly, I feel betrayed. Was she the one making lightning earlier too? You could hear that for miles!”

Bumi and Sokka then looked at each other, desperately trying to keep a straight face and wondering who would be the first to break. It was Bumi.

“She,” he began through stilted breathing and watery eyes, “is Crown Princess Izumi of the Fire Nation.” He could have heard a pin drop in the room. Then a sudden scrambling of sputtered responses from Shen and Sunnuk.

“Princess as in daughter of _Firelord Zuko_?”

“Oh man I would _never_ have- I had no idea!”

Sokka calmly cleared his throat and put on his Councilman voice.

“You know, it really has been too long since I talked to my dear _friend_ Zuko. I’m sure he’d love to hear what you have to say about his daughter-”

“Oh, SPIRITS!” “You don’t need to do that!”

Bumi had at this point completely lost it and his sides were beginning to ache; he’d have hiccups all afternoon, he was sure.

“Relax, guys. Uncle Sokka isn’t going to do anything. Just remember that’s my oldest friend you’re talking about though.” They both nodded and looked down at something apparently very interesting on the floor. He turned his attention back to Kenji, still face-down on the table.

“How’re you doing there, bud?”

“Ready for death I think.”

“That’s the spirit.”

_______________________________________

With Bumi’s friends having arrived, she figured today would be the day they went out to the frontier; he’d told her he wouldn’t have much time on leave and so had no intention of delaying their journey, and the solstice was now over, so she wouldn’t have much time before she was expected back home. This in mind, she picked out a very plain outfit of neutral shades of brown and grey that wouldn’t immediately mark her as Fire Nation.

She regrouped with Bumi and the others, her presence eliciting a chuckle as a result of the embarrassment earlier, and she rolled her eyes. They were all dressed equally non-descript and she took a moment to inspect them. One of them couldn’t look more Earth Kingdom if he tried; he was stocky with bright green eyes, almost certainly an earthbender. Another of the friends was slightly taller than the first but shared his complexion, though his long brown hair was styled in a way very reminiscent of Kya’s. Then there was the weird one from before: not as tall as Bumi but still fair in height; his hair wasn’t as dark as hers but very close to black. Possibly Fire Nation.

“Hello again,” she made a point of looking at the weird one. “Are you guys ready to go then?”

“Go? Where?” The Earth Kingdom boy asked.

“My friends,” Bumi began, smirking, “ _we_ are going to the border.”

“You can’t be serious.” The weird one rolled his eyes.

“Yeah Bumi, this is stupid.” Said the one with hair like Kya.

“Shen, wasn’t it _you_ who said you could take on those rebels _any day_?” The Earth Kingdom boy blushed. “Well, I guess if you guys are nothing but a bunch of pigeon-chickens, then sure. Stay here. Izumi and I are going though.”

This seemed to be a common dynamic for the group. With a series of groans and a chorus of ‘fine’, his friends followed them out of the temple. Bumi smiled.

“I knew you guys wouldn’t let us down! What’re friends for, eh? While we’re here, I don’t believe I’ve introduced everyone. Izumi, meet my buddies from boot camp. Shen, Sunnuk, Kenji, meet Izumi.”

They continued down the island and across the harbour, eventually heading downtown. 

“So, how are we actually planning on _getting_ to the border? And how can we be sure we’ll a get a chance to access the rebels?” She whispered to Bumi.

“Don’t worry. There’re tracks leading directly to the outposts, so we just need to hop and a train and we’re golden. As for the second question: if their attacks are as organised and well-targeted as you think they are, there should be some scout activity. We’ll find it with a bit of snooping.”

“Okay…”

Their plan progressed about as smoothly as Bumi had predicted. The five of them boarded a train headed to the region known as ‘the flats’ and from there the trip took only a few hours. She couldn’t help but notice the stark difference between where they’d boarded and where they were headed, however. The tall, elegant buildings and paved roads soon gave way to shanty towns and gravel pavement. She’d never been anywhere so impoverished-looking in her life.

“Who lives out here?” She asked her companions.

“Mostly farmers and miners,” Shen replied. “A lot of the Earth Kingdom’s like this too; reminds me of where my family lived before we headed to the city.”

The farther the train went, the worse the tracks became too. It seemed the immense wealth spouting from Republic City had yet to reach as far as here. As apparently neither fully Republic nor Earth Kingdom any longer, the area around them had largely been ignored, with few resources being sent its way.

By the time the train grounded to a screeching halt, she felt like she was truly in the middle of nowhere. Some crumbling shops with boarded up windows, a bar and what appeared to be an unmanned watch tower were all that greeted her.

“Bumi, do our parents know about the outposts like this?” He shrugged.

“Probably. But at this point, so many people are choosing to move to the city that these places will just shift into patrol points, so it’s not like they _need_ much by way of supplies.”

“I think my mom might disagree with you there, Bumi.” The weird one -no, _Kenji_ spoke up. “She wanted to stay in her village but there just weren’t any means to get by out here anymore. Not with the big refineries all moving out West at least.”

“Well, no one _forced_ them to do that; like I said, there’s just more going on in the city. Anyway, that’s not why were here. Let’s go look around.”

They made their way through the town- no great feet given its size- and eventually circled back to and empty patch with a broken fountain that at one point could have been a town square.

“Well, this was certainly a _thrilling _excursion, Bumi.” Sunnuk drawled, “but really, we should probably get going.” Disappointed, Bumi sighed.__

__“I guess so. Let’s just check out the watch tower and be done with it.”_ _

__No sooner had they headed to the tower than a whistle pierced the air. Another whistle echoed in response. And another. Then _another_ , until it felt like whatever was making the noise had them surrounded._ _

__“Bumi…” Izumi took her bending stance, Sunnuk and Shen following suit. Bumi reached for one of the knives he always carried on his person and she saw Kenji do the same. As quickly as it started, the whistling stopped. Then the attack came. The ground started shaking beneath them and spikes of jagged earth rose around them._ _

__Shen quickly began trying to fend them off and Sunnuk summoned some water from the nearby fountain. The three benders shot out with their elements, trying to hit the barely visible attackers._ _

__It felt like with each blow they managed to land on the darkly-clad figures, more appeared from holes in the ground. Even more concerning was the fact that every aggressor they knocked out seemed to be swallowed up by the earth. _That’s how they keep coming back_ , Izumi mused; they had to be quickly burying their wounded with enough air to bend them back to their side without suffocating them, treating them once the fight was over._ _

__Looking around she saw the attacks were coming even closer, and Bumi and Kenji were starting to run out of knives._ _

__“Shen!” She heard Bumi call, “hit left!”_ _

__She turned just as she saw Shen cover an attack that had knocked Kenji down, but the distraction was just enough to lower her own defenses. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and the world went black._ _

___________________________________________ _

__It was loud and hectic. Rocks were flying everywhere, and he was down to one knife. He saw Kenji fall and shouted to Shen who immediately moved while he went in for an attack. On of the rebels had gotten too close and reeled back as Bumi sliced his bicep. The man howled as the fabric of his sleeve tore, blood pouring out, revealing a mark. Bumi quickly grabbed his arm and yanked the fabric apart. It looked like a tattoo of a badgermole._ _

__“WHO ARE YOU?” He demanded, but the man’s blood made his grip slippery and with a sharp knee to his gut, the assailant freed himself. Sunnuk blocked a shard of earth that would’ve crushed his skull, and he managed to recover his position. When he looked back, the attacker had disappeared like he’d never even been there; the only trace of him was a tiny pool of blood._ _

__He looked around to his friends, but only saw Shen and Sunnuk. Amid the chaos and their defensive strikes, he desperately scanned the area._ _

__“Izumi! Kenji!” Nothing. Like the man with the badgermole tattoo, it was as though Izumi and Kenji had never even been there. He had no idea just how long they’d been fighting, but as he threw his last knife at one of the bandits, he could tell Shen and Sunnuk were tired and their movements became increasing sloppy._ _

__“We need to pull back!” Sunnuk shouted._ _

__Shen released a final tirade of earthen spikes while Sunnuk pelted the enemy with shards of ice. It still wasn’t enough. The earthbenders were coming in faster than they could retreat._ _

__At the last minute, as he could sense them move in for the final time, the ground shook in what felt like an earthquake. It grew faster and faster, more powerful as it approached. Eventually the attackers couldn’t even control their own earth. Next followed a gust of wind and a wave which swamped the area. Some of the enemy were encased in ice, but their comrades soon freed them. They went on the defensive and retreated faster than their opposition could capture them. They vanished, leaving just Bumi, Shen and Sunnuk in the square. As Bumi looked back, he spotted the one figure he least wanted to see: his father._ _

__“You’d better have a good reason for being out here, Bumi.”_ _


	4. Chapter 4

To say that Dad was annoyed would be an understatement. To say that Dad was angry would be an understatement. To say that Dad was _furious_ would be an understatement. 

She’d been training with her mom. She had been faring well against the older woman’s skill and about to go in for a winning blow before her mother stopped, staring beyond her shoulder, her water completely abandoned. Her father’s face looked like a storm- no, it was harsher than that; a maelstrom, ready to sink all those unfortunate enough to be caught in its path without mercy, that would be more fitting. 

“What happened?” Her mother asked cautiously. Kya watched as Bumi and two of his friends appeared from behind Appa. _There’d been more of them earlier, right?_

“Another attack,” the Avatar- because this man was not Dad- responded with a clipped voice. Her mom immediately ran to her brother.

“ _Spirits_ , what on earth were you doing out there? Are you alright?” She began running her water across his body, pausing when she thought she found an injury. It was then that Kya realised something was wrong.

“Where’s Izumi?” She asked and Bumi flinched. Katara stopped what she was doing and fearfully looked between her husband and son.

“An excellent question, Kya.” Aang said darkly. “Would you care to answer, Bumi?” The young man in question looked down, scuffing his feet in the dirt.

“Was she _there_? Out at the frontier with you?!” Katara became frantic, doing a once-over around Appa like she couldn’t believe what her senses were telling her. “Bumi! Where is she?” Something in her brother crumbled.

“I don’t _know_.” His voice was raw. Her father turned on him.

“Bumi, you have no _idea_ what you’ve done.”

“Dad, I-”

“NO!” Her father bellowed. “Listen to me and listen well. Your foolishness today may prove to be the biggest mistake of your life! You endangered your comrades, you triggered an attack and you enabled the _Crown Princess_ to be abducted by rebels! How have I managed to raise such an arrogant son? Do you have any idea of the danger she is-”

“Yes of course I know! We were just trying to help! Of course, I understand the danger she and Kenji are in and it’s _killing_ me that we were out there. She’s my best friend and the fact that she’s in danger-”

“Best friend? Bumi, sentiments aside she is more than that! She is the _only_ heir to the Fire Nation throne! If anything were to happen to her, if she doesn’t come back, her entire country could be thrown into chaos! Did you ever once think-”

“ _Yes_ , I thought of this. How stupid do you think I am? We both knew the risks, this wasn’t just my idea! We had both thought about this. But do you want to know one more thing I _think_? I think you claiming to have raised me is pretty fucking rich, _father_!”

The silence was deafening. 

She looked at her mom: her mouth was agape, and her eyes bulged. Kya slowly edged closer to Bumi. Sure, he and Dad had had their fair share of arguments, but now she was afraid. This was unlike any fight they’d ever had before, as though everything they’d ever resented about each other had erupted in full force. His friends looked like statues; they’d probably never even imagined something like this would unfold before them. The tension around their group kept rising until it became unbearable, until finally, _finally_ , her father broke the silence.

“You will return to camp. You will stay there. You will do as you are told while I clean up _your_ mess or so help me!” With a flap of his cape and not another word, he turned, mounting Appa and taking off into the night sky.

“Where’s he going?” She asked.

“The Fire Nation.” Her mother responded wearily. “Bumi, I think it would be best if you go back to camp in the morning. Will they let you return early?” He nodded blankly. Though she herself had never witnessed it, the Firelord’s temper was legendary. It had even become headline news following an attempt on Izumi’s life a few years ago, and he could be prone to rash actions. Then there was the Firelady: fiercely protective and deadly in her own right. Finally, although neither of _them_ would ever hurt her brother, the same couldn’t be said for Druk, an equally fearsome creature. It would without doubt be better if Bumi wasn’t here when Izumi’s parents inevitably flew in.

They walked up to the temple in silence, her mother wordlessly making tea and dishing out food they all knew no one would touch. She climbed into bed feeling sick, her limbs impossibly heavy. She lay awake for what felt like hours after Katara extinguished the last light in the hallway and was sure everyone else did the same. When she awoke the next day, her pillow was damp, and her brother was gone.

__________________________________________

Sergeant Shiyu paced in front of him. Her body was tense, her steps pounded into the ground, and there was a fury in her eyes that Bumi had never seen before.

“What were you thinking? Going out into a region _known_ for Reclamation activity? You have done many crazy things during your time here, Cadet, but this is _beyond_ stupid.”

“Sergeant, we we’re just curious and we weren’t even in uniform. No one knew who we were.”

“It makes absolutely no difference if you were in uniform or not! When you are off base, you are _always_ representing the Forces. Did you completely ignore your lessons in comportment? What on earth possessed you to pull some dumb shit like this? You could have been killed!”

“I was with people, I would never go alone to a situation like-”

“Yes, I am well aware. Unfortunately, you’re a natural leader, and you get your friends to follow you into dangerous situations that you aren’t equipped to deal with. There’s a reason we don’t allow new recruits to see action, Cadet.” He had no retort for that.

“I understand, Sergeant.”

“Good. Thanks to you, Cadet Kenji is missing, and since Sergeant Hyo and I had the _good fortune_ to be assigned to babysitting you new recruits, we will be getting shit for your idiocy. As punishment, you and your friends will be placed on sentry duty for the remainder of the course and will be losing use of the mess aside from eating meals. Am I making myself clear?”

“Yes, Sergeant.”

“And one more thing: when your superior officer is talking to you, you stand to attention, Cadet.”

“Yes, Sergeant.”

“Good. Now, Sergeant Hyo will give you further instruction for the remainder of the course.”

She then turned and left the tent while Sergeant Hyo organised his papers, eventually turning to Bumi.

“In lieu of your Fire Team Partner’s… _disappearance_ , you’ll be paired up with Cadet Shen and Cadet Sunnuk. Try not to fuck up anymore.” 

Hyo directed him back outside the tent and left to resume his own duties as a group leader. He was now being moved from Arrow to Bravo. No great distance, but he was the only one now lugging a kit-box, field pack and duffel bag across camp in the rain; overall the scene perfectly reflected his mood.

His eyes started to burn as he approached Bravo’s cabin, but as he got closer, whatever tears there might’ve been were gently pulled away from his body along with the damp that had soaked through his clothes and into his bones. He looked up timidly to see the rain had stopped too. Well, around him, specifically; it was still pouring over camp. Staring ahead he noticed Sunnuk, an orb of water floating about his palm.

“Hey,” he greeted as he let the water splash off to the side.

“Hey. Sergeant Hyo’s said I’m with you guys until the end of the course.”

“Cool.”

“Listen, I’m- “

“I know. Believe me we’re all sorry about what happened.” 

“You don’t seem particularly angry…” Sunnuk sighed.

“Shen still is, at least a little. We all agreed to go out there; Kenji and the Princess too. She seems tough and we know Kenji can handle himself, and I’m sure the Avatar will find them before too long. There’s nothing more we can do about it until the end of training.” Deflated, Bumi agreed.

“Yeah. I guess so. Can you hold the door while I bring my stuff in?” Just as Sunnuk moved out of the way and opened the door, Bumi’s things jerked forward and three columns of earth vaulted them into the cabin. He looked up to see Shen.

“Get out of the rain, asshat.”

Bumi walked inside, and that seemed to be the end of that.

************************************

Things eventually started to settle back to normal; they began to laugh together again. But the lack of word on Izumi and Kenji left a pit in his stomach, and he still found himself thinking about the man from the flats.

He had just finished eating what meager scraps the cooks had been able to put together for the evening meal and was now stood outside on sentry duty with Sunnuk. Unsure of how to start the conversation, he coughed, grabbing his friend’s attention.

“You know,” he began, “I did notice something odd about the man I attacked in the flats.”

“ _Bumi_.” Sunnuk warned, turning his gaze forward.

“Look, just hear me out, okay?” Sunnuk said nothing, which he took as a cue to continue talking. “While we were there, I sliced the guy’s sleeve open. He had a _marking_.” Sunnuk snorted. “No, really! He had a tattoo of a badgermole!” Sunnuk sighed.

“He’s an earthbender. I’m sure lots of them have those.”

“Okay, but this was just an outline; not even finished, like whoever did this was doing it _en masse_.”

“Or the artist was just shit.”

“Now see, at first I thought that too. But badgermoles are _hard_. Not many people have seen them, and even fewer can depict them accurately. Initially I thought, hey, maybe they just traced it from a photo-”

“Which they probably did-”

“But there aren’t any photos. None! When was the last time you ever saw one? They don’t hang around long enough for anyone who happens to be lugging around a camera to snap!”

“…Where are you going with this?”

“Well, say I’m an artist. I’m good enough to recreate a badgemole but I don’t complete my tattoos- something which would be worth _a lot_ of money. Why? Because I have a different reason. I’m marking people. People in the same group so we all know who each other is and can easily identify our allies!”

“Okay. Let’s say you’re right. You’re still the only person to have seen this marking on one of the rebels. How is that supposed to help us? You still can’t prove who these people are or why they’re attacking the borders!” Bumi thought back to his conversation with Izumi and her theory.

“What if I could?”

“What?”

“I said, what if I could find another person with this exact same tattoo _and_ proof of their activities?”

“Bumi-”

“Then would you help me?” Sunnuk deliberated this for a moment. He huffed.

“Convince Shen, then I will. If not, then you’re on your own. I’m not risking getting kicked out for another one of your brilliant ideas, okay?”

“Okay.”

They spent the rest of their shift in silence. During this time, Bumi tried to work out a way to prove to Shen and Sunnuk that Izumi was right, and then what they would do once he had. She thought the rebels were avoiding attacking military bases and funds because they were already receiving a supply from the United Forces itself. So, first things first, he had to prove there was a loss of supplies; it would be large enough to sustain another platoon but not so close together as to draw attention to the perpetrator. He knew a log had to be kept somewhere, but only the logistics officers would have access to it, so he’d have to work around that somehow.

Then, there was the matter of tattoos. This should be easier; he knew all military personnel were required to declare any physical markings or modifications since he’d had to do the same when he joined. But again, there was the issue of _finding_ the records. He couldn’t just march into the room where this information would be held- he’d have to be smarter.

He’d have to find his friends. He _had_ to. They were in danger and his father had no idea what he knew, and even if he found a way to communicate with him, he didn’t like his odds of being believed. Assured of what he had to do in the coming days, Bumi resumed focus on keeping watch, a new resolve burning inside him.


	5. Chapter 5

Her head was throbbing, she could feel crusted blood at the nape of her neck and her skin felt grimy; she was probably covered in dirt. She tried to open her eyes, but the strain almost made her yelp in pain, so she kept them shut, allowing her captors to continue thinking she was unconscious. She would have to rely on her other senses for now. The air around her was damp and heavy; it clung to her clothes and stuck to her skin. From what she could tell, her hands and feet were bound, and she was being dragged along a corridor by the chains connecting her wrists. She could hear droplets of water as they plopped down from the ceiling, sometimes landing on her; she could also hear people talking.

“I don’t see why we didn’t just _leave_ the ashmaker and her friend back above ground,” the first voice said. “What are we keeping them for? It’s just more mouths to feed in my opinion.”

“You heard the orders,” came another voice. “I think they plan on putting the guy to work so it’s probably the same with this one.”

“Yeah but I’m betting this one’ll be more trouble than she’s worth; I mean, did you see her fighting? We should’ve just slit her throat; said it was a mishap during the fight. At any rate, I’m not sticking my hand up to be warden of whatever prison's getting set up here.”

“Well, if she _does_ turn out to be a hassle, we can always just off her anyway once the boss has what he wants from her. What’s he going to do to us? He needs all the fighters he can get for this rebellion of his.”

They chuckled and continued down the hall. It was getting colder and colder, and wherever she was, she probably didn’t have long to escape. In the time she’d been conscious, they hadn’t made any turns. One good wall of fire would be enough to put some distance between her and her captors. She just needed the right moment. If they were throwing her in a cell, then they’d either be releasing her chains or adjusting them to attach her to the wall or floor. That would be when she acted.

She tried to assess the rest of her body: her left ankle throbbed but she was sure she could put weight on it, however her left shoulder felt like it was dislocated. The wall of fire would be harder than she’d thought, and she certainly wouldn’t be making lightning any time soon.

Eventually, her captors came to a halt. They were opening a cell door and as she expected, planned to dump what they believed to be her limp body. When they unfastened her chains, she was ready. She sprang up, lighting the room with her bending as she knocked the two of them into the far wall. Her shoulder screamed in pain, but she managed to create a wall hot enough to repel them and ran in the direction she’d come from. Keeping a light ahead of her, she continued down the hall.

She moved as fast as she could. Suddenly, a sharp spike of earth shot up towards her. She managed to veer out of the way, but it still grazed her side, causing her to yell.

“And just where do you think you’re going, girl?” A new voice. Deep but calm, almost as though its owner hadn’t just tracked down an escaped prisoner, rather, was amused by the antics of a child running around. She was swallowed by the earth to her waist and turned to face the voice.

A huge man, clean-shaven in a pressed uniform stood before her. He looked vaguely familiar, but in the poor lighting she couldn’t be sure. Though his clothing looked military, he had no patches to indicate rank or badges to associate him with any battles she might recall. A short distance back, the two guards she’d attacked hobbled to meet them.

“Well?” The tall man asked again, this time more irritable.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, so she _does_ speak!” He had an unsettlingly pleasant smile. “Well, I suppose it is rather rude for a host not to introduce themselves to their own guest. We are the ‘rebels’ as I’m sure the media has been calling us, but we prefer to think of ourselves as reclaimers. Now, who might you be? And don’t let my pleasant demeanor fool you; I assure you this is the last time I will ask nicely.”

_He doesn’t know my face_ , she thought.

“My name’s Rina.” She lied.

“Very well, _Rina_. Where are you from?” _What would he believe?_ She tried to remember the different boroughs of Republic City. She’d been to a few of them with her parents, and one sprung to mind.

“The Dragon Flats, sir.” He seemed to like her use of ‘sir’.

“Of course, you are. Look at you.” He turned to his comrades. "If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was even _born_ in the Fire Nation. Just one more thing, _Rina_ of the Dragon Flats: would you mind telling me who your municipal representative is?” Ah. She’d definitely known the answer are one point, but she needed to know it now.

“Minister…Hong.” Her heart was in her mouth. After what felt like years, the man who she decided was the leader smiled, but it was the kind that made her feel more on edge.

“Quite right, Rina. How could I forget? Now, unless I am mistaken, _you_ were supposed to be put in one of our lovely cells. Were they not up to par? My sincerest apologies, I know they’re not great. Not to worry though. I’m sure I can make one more suitable for you.”

He shifted his stance. The earth continued swallowing her until she was completely covered. The area around her then widened, leaving her space to move. She lit a flame and saw she was trapped in an earthen cube; no doors, no windows, and limited air. She quickly extinguished her fire. Above her, she heard the footsteps of the man who’d put her here. There was no need for chains; she wouldn’t be making another escape any time soon.

She could vaguely still feel the sun in the sky, miles above her, but the sensation was weak, and her inner flame was starting to grow cold, she adopted a meditative position as best as she could, given her injured shoulder and tried to focus on her inner flame, remembering the day her father had taught her the breath of fire.

****************************

_She was still relatively new to bending, having only recently made her first flames, and she still fell into stunned silence every time she felt the tiny flicker of life in her palm. She’d decided today that she would make a fort in her father’s office while he worked, and her mother attended a meeting with some dignitary or another, and this suited her father fine- he loved having her around but given the mundane nature of the office environment, she rarely elected to play there. So, while listening to the pleasant scratching of his brush on paper and stamping of wax seals, she sat cross-legged, mesmerised by her fire._

_“You still doing okay, Turtleduck? Not too bored yet?” Her dad looked over to her in her little fort, slowly stacking his papers and putting away his ink. When she didn’t respond, he moved over to her, and upon finding her staring wide eyes at her hands, he smiled._

_“Pretty amazing, huh sweetie?” She looked up and smiled._

_“Yeah!” She responded before becoming serious. She’d only been making fire for about a year or so, and even then, she’d only done it at home, in Ba Sing Se when they’d visited Grandpa, and then at Republic City. But these were all relatively warm places, and with the upcoming visit to the South Pole- the one that her mother seemed to be absolutely dreading- she began to worry._

_“Daddy, am I still gonna be able to make fire in the South Pole?” He looked bemused._

_"Of course, Izumi, why wouldn’t you be able to?”_

_“Well, it’s so cold there, what if my fire stops working?” He chuckled then._

_“Don’t worry; that’s not how firebending works. You can always make it, no matter where you are. But you are right, the South Pole is very cold, so your fire might be a little bit weaker than here. But once you get older you’ll be better at maintaining it.”_

_“But then what if I you and Uncle Aang aren’t around? Like if I’m outside playing with Bumi? How am I supposed keep warm if my fire’s all small?”_

_“Hmm. You know, sweetheart, that’s a very good question. If you ever start feeling too cold, there is a special technique to keep you warm, one that your grandpa taught me when I was younger.” She gasped and jumped onto his lap._

_“Tell me!”_

_“Alright,” he said smiling. “Now, this might be hard at first because you’re still new to bending, but you can use a technique called the breath of fire to keep yourself warm. You need to focus on your chi- that’s what gives you bending- and concentrate really hard okay?” She’d crawled off her father and had now adopted an imitation of the meditative position she’d seen her father adopt numerous times._

_“Now, breathe in. Let your fire flow inside of you, through your stomach. And breathe out, feel the warmth come up through your body.”_

_She did as instructed and once she began focusing, she started to sense the warm pit in her stomach, and the way its heat would creep up through her body, making her back and chest tingle with the warmth that washed over her. Eventually, her warmth got at far as her head, and when she breathed out, she felt like she was sat right next to a fire, flames just tickling her face but not quite touching. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in fact close a fire, one that she’d made herself with her mouth. Amazed she looked back to her father and saw him beaming._

_“Did I do it right?” She asked uncertainly; she’d never made fire with her mouth before._

_“Yes, Turtleduck. You did it perfectly. I certainly never need to worry about you getting too cold.”_

_“Mommy’s gonna be cold though, huh?” He laughed._

_“Yeah, mommy’s going to hate it.”_

***********************

She could just tell that the sun had risen and set twice, and she was starting to think they’d forgotten about her or could no longer find her. Another day without water and she’d probably be done for; she was already dizzy from dehydration. As she pondered her imminent demise, however, a hole in her cell opened, illuminating her sorry state. A man walked in, watched by a guard. When he saw her, he gasped, and a familiar voice followed.

“They got you too, huh?” She couldn’t describe her relief. It was Kenji. 

“Ta-da,” she croaked, her throat painfully dry. “It’s your good friend, _Rina_.” He got the hint.

“Hey, Rina. You doing okay? The guards figured you’d been here long enough. Can you move?”

“I can walk. Grazed side and a dislocated shoulder though.”

“Can I take a look? I’m alright with minor injuries.

“Sure.” She shifted so he could see her side and lifted her shirt to reveal a gash.

“This isn’t too bad. It’ll sting, but I just need to clean and stitch it.”

“Okay.” She hissed as he cleaned it. When he finished, he addressed her again.

“And the shoulder?” She turned to show him her left side. A squelching sound and the grinding of bone against cartilage soon popped her arm back in place. Amid the pain she thanked him. After that, the guard pulled him back and quickly metalbended chains around her wrists and ankles, then threw a water gourd at her.

“Drink.” She didn’t need to be told twice.

After drinking until she started to feel uncomfortable, the guard marched her and Kenji along, keeping them ahead of him. She tried to get a sense of how Kenji was: he had a black eye and a limp but otherwise seemed to be in better condition than her.

There didn’t seem to be many other prisoners either; they probably passed four cells before being lead to a main area with several other rebels. When they saw the two of them, they stopped what they were doing, keeping their eyes tracked to them. Eventually, they were marched into an empty room. The guard who’d been walking with them chained them to either side of the room and bent the door away, leaving them alone in darkness.

“How long were you in that cell?” Kenji broke the silence.

“A couple of days. Were you locked up like me too?”

“No. I’d been training as a medic. They’ve had me helping out: setting broken bones and things like that.”

“Do they know you’re forces?”

“Don’t think so. At least, they haven’t indicated that they do; they just take me out of my cell whenever someone needs something. How about you? Do any of them know who you are?”

“I think their leader might- at least, I think he knows I’m not who I said I am. I don’t suppose you’ve figured out anything that could help us escape? My last attempt was less than successful.”

“I know of a way to escape, but I don’t know how we’re going to do it.”

“Are we too deep underground for me to blast us out?”

“Easily. And there _are_ tunnels, but they change the route every day. We’d need a clear plan- a recent one- of the network, which is going to be very difficult to get our hands on.”

“So, we take a hostage,” she responded. “An _earthbending_ hostage.”

“What?”

“We get an earthbender alone- some straggler or something- and we force them to bust us out, assuming we’re too deep for me to get us to the surface.” He snorted.

“Wow. Definitely a less than peaceful approach.”

“Why should we be peaceful? They’re rebels who’ve been attacking innocent people; they’re dangerous!”

“Okay, okay. My concern here is that they might have a way to raise an alarm. Or your guy could earthbend us the wrong way or just crush us. The hostage plan could be pretty dangerous.”

“Well, how do we get access to a map that we know is up to date? And how do we just walk off without someone noticing? We certainly seem pretty trapped here.” She huffed.

“I don’t know.” She rolled her eyes, and the room fell silent. Alone with her thoughts and Kenji’s steady breathing, she considered her situation.

A movement of this size must have some sort of central base. One in charge of distributing orders and information. If she behaved and made herself useful, she might be able to wander around unsupervised and figure out where these people were being controlled from. So, that was her priority. Find a way to get to a map and while she was at it, find other information on this movement. She was sure Bumi would be doing the same; he would be back at camp by now. If she could do this and find Bumi, they could present their parents with enough information to launch an investigation, or just take the perpetrators down the same day.

Eventually, as Kenji was called out to take care of injuries, so was she. With uncertain steps, they walked together to the infirmary.

“Why am I being taken out too? I have no training in healing at all.”

“They don’t want you sat in a cell when you could be out here helping them. There’s no where you can run off to, so why not put you to work?”

“I guess, but I still don’t see how I’m supposed to be of any use here,” she grumbled, and Kenji simply shrugged.

As they continued down the tunnel, the smell hit her, and she saw Kenji brace himself while the tingles ran up her spine. It was a mess when they entered. She couldn’t be sure if all these casualties were from their fight in the flats- she doubted it, there were so many- but even still, the smell of infection was overwhelming.

“You two,” a man called their attention, wearing what she supposed could have once been a medical uniform but was now so stained with blood as to be brown.

On the stretcher beside him lay a young woman, probably no older than herself.

“You’re the ashmaker?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. Come here.” She hesitantly walked over, Kenji not far behind.

“You’re going to cauterize the wound when I tell you, got it?” She nodded.

Then the physician lifted the woman’s shirt and she felt ill. Whatever had caused it, the wound was festering: tight red tissue surrounded a line of green and white puss. The physician began cutting away at the diseased flesh. With each scrape of his dull knife, the unconscious woman’s body twitched, threatening to wake up. Eventually, he’d cut away as much as he could, and motioned for Kenji to grab some antiseptic fluid.

“You’re going to light a fire and seal off the wound now.” She nodded numbly.

With her right index and middle fingers, she channelled a tiny light. The physician nodded, and she slowly dragged it over the wound. The smell made her gag, and the flesh underneath seemed to bubble and blister, tightening once she pulled her hand away.

Kenji came in after, expertly wrapping the wound. The physician nodded, and they were taken from the room. She looked at Kenji who didn’t seem nearly as uncomfortable as she was.

“You okay?” He asked with a look of genuine concern.

“Yeah,” she lied, though he could probably see through it. “I’m fine.”

*************************

They seemed to settle into a routine at that point; the pair of them being taken to the infirmary, her using her firebending on wounds under the physician’s instruction, and Kenji sterilising and wrapping them. She found herself slowly getting used to it, and eventually no longer received so many dirty looks from the rebels as she made her way to and from the sick bay, but her feelings of paranoia and fear persisted, and she found herself almost crying for how much she missed standing in the sun. 

They were once again sat in their cell when the door opened. Expecting to be taken to the infirmary again, they both stood, but were surprised to see an unfamiliar guard, definitely not from the medical unit, standing before them.

“Ashmaker, can you make lightning?” Her tone didn’t leave much room for inquisition.

“Yes.” She responded. The guard snapped her fingers at two more people who appeared, each grabbing her by the arm while the first guard took Kenji. The pair shared a worried glance before being dragged down the hallway and were taken down to a large room billing with smoke. They released Kenji’s bonds and then turned her to look at him. As they did so, the main guard and another who had joined them bent sharp spikes of earth, positioning them on his neck.

“Clear the smoke. Restart the generator. Any funny business and your friend bleeds out. Got it?” She nodded solemnly, and Kenji gave a small smile; perhaps this could be a way for her to earn some semblance of trust like he had. With practiced movements, the smoke died around her, giving her a better view of the mess before her, and it really was a mess. She saw several metalbenders working to realign the large cylinders attached to the generator, reconnecting them to several pipes that all led into the ceiling. 

“I need a conductive surface,” she told them. “Otherwise, the lightning will just destroy the entire generator.” Several metalbenders looked to each other skeptically but then acquiesced, blending together something could have been a copper alloy, connecting it to the generator. 

With a warning glance, she ushered everyone to stand back and began her motions. Her normal lightning would probably be too strong and blow the whole system, and whatever it was, her captors wanted it fixed and fast. She dragged her hands around her, picking up a small amount of electricity as she went, then shot it just about the target. Lighting wants to hit the earth, and she knew some of it would fall on target. As power once again surged through the generator, she felt the earthbenders breath a sigh of relief. Actually, she just heard them breathing more in general, as though they’d been low on air before. Then it clicked, and she understood just why they’d been so desperate to get the machine up and running again: _this is what’s pumping air into the base!_

She’d heard these newly invented power generators were still quite temperamental and prone to breaking down for several reasons including a power issue such as this. It could very easily blow completely, perhaps even taking down the surrounding area with it. She also figured that if this was prototype was being used for something as important as supplying air to the base, she’d probably be required to temporarily fix it quite regularly until they could see to the underlying issue.

A shy grin played on Kenji’s face, and the guards were too distracted to notice her own smile. As she was led back to her cell, she watched the newly functioning machine pump air back underground. Just before she turned the corner, she saw him, the man from before. He had a malicious smirk and in the illuminated room she recognized him, and she felt like she was slowly giving away her identity. With her perceived slip-up and advanced bending, it was only a matter of time before he confirmed he knew who she was.


	6. Chapter 6

Tenzin had scraped his knee trying to perfect one of his moves and neither of them knew where mom was, so that left her to heal him. Not that she minded; unlike Katara, Kya had naturally taken to healing. She was almost done, the glistening water gliding up and down Tenzin’s knee, when an unearthly screech disrupted her concentration. She looked up and saw the great scaled beast.

“Should we go inside and meet them?” Tenzin looked to her. It happened a lot now: as eldest resident sibling, she was the de facto in charge, especially when Toph’s daughters were over too. Right now, it was just the two of them and regardless of how much he criticized her maturity, Tenzin made no move to call the shots.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I doubt they’re in a particularly chatty mood.”

They decided to slowly make their way to the edge of the clearing. When their father appeared, he looked exhausted. The Firelord appeared next, wide-eyed and hair messy; then the Firelady, whose usual poker face was nowhere to be seen, and instead looked distraught. Katara appeared to greet them.

“Has Toph heard anything?” Aang asked her. 

“No. It’s like you said; there’s just no trace-”

“What were they doing out there?” Zuko snapped. “Just what in _Agni’s name_ is going on?”

“Zuko,” her mother sounded like she was trying to tame a wild animal. “We are going to find her-”

“Do you even have a plan?” Mai cut in. “You said there was no trace, so what clues could you _possibly_ have to find her?” Izumi’s parents looked like they were on the verge of a breakdown.

“Sokka and Toph are here. We’ll discuss this inside.” Katara looked around, but she didn’t see either of her children. As they went inside, Kya edged closer to the temple.

“What are you doing?”

“Eavesdropping. Duh.”

“You can’t just listen in on this!”

“Why not?”

“ _Because!_ "

“Wow. Real convincing, Baldy. See ya later.” He groaned.

“Why are you even bothering? You’re going to get caught.”

“Not this time; I have an idea.” 

She left her brother and summoned enough water to cover both of her arms. Toph was the one she had to watch out for, so she treaded lightly until she got to the front door. Guiding her water, she froze it on the doorknob and then quietly pulled it open. Then, she released the door and hooked it on an awning, slowly lifting herself off the ground. It groaned under her weight, and she dangled limply to allow it to adjust to her. When she was satisfied it wouldn't giver her away, she continued doing this along the inside of the house, hooking her water and using it to swing herself down the hallway towards the sound of voices. She stopped outside the door leading to her mother’s study. Once satisfied that she was in a position to hear, she froze her water and left herself dangle. As if on cue, she heard her uncle.

“There’s no one outside, right, Toph?” She heard the woman stomp.

“Nope. All clear.”

“Okay then. Toph and I have been wracking our brains. We think the best course of action is to go back to the flats and check it out.”

“I was already there,” her dad said. “There was no trace. No hairs or scraps of clothing; nothing.”

“Yeah, well, your seismic sense isn’t exactly up to scratch, Twinkletoes. I’ll bet you 50 yuans _I_ can find something. They’re earthbenders; they’ll have left a trail if they were in a hurry to get out of there. Then we just need to follow their tracks.”

“Then what?” Her mom asked. Sokka jumped in.

“We split into two. One group with Toph and the other with Aang. We can surround them, and they won’t be able to hide with two earthbenders on their trail.”

“And what if they know who they have?” She heard Zuko’s worried voice. “What if they know who she is, and they try to use her as leverage for something?”

“Then we deal with them.” Mai said darkly.

“ _Mai_ ,” Aang objected.

“Don’t think I wouldn’t, Avatar. They have my daughter; I couldn’t care less about your era of peace.” Kya didn’t hear anything from the room for a while, then her mother spoke.

“Okay. So, we head out in the morning. We stake the place out and find what we can.”

“Agreed.” Said Sokka. She started to hear shuffling from inside and made quick work of getting back outside. By this point, Tenzin had left. She ran around to her own room, grabbing provisions from the kitchen and a map from her dad’s office. Once there, she quickly packed everything she’d need for her journey and changed into her bedclothes, hiding her sack under her bed. She heard a knock on her door.

“Are you in there, sweetie?” It was her mom.

“Yep.” Her mom entered.

“Your dad and I won’t be here when you get up tomorrow, okay?” She hugged Kya.

“Is this about Izumi? I saw Druk fly in earlier,” she feigned ignorance.

“Yes, so I need you to look after Tenzin while we’re gone. Can you manage?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

She waited 30 minutes after the last light had been flicked off, then got changed, gathered her sack and water gourds, and jumped out the window. She slid off the roof and used her bending to silently land in a nearby pond. From there, she walked to the stables.

“Oogie,” she whispered. The other smaller bison were sound asleep, and Appa preferred his space outside. The creature started, and she walked over smiling.

“Where are you going?” Tenzin’s head popped up from Oogie’s saddle.

“None of your business.” He slid off and landed near a water trough.

“Yes, it is! You’re my sister. You’re going to get yourself in trouble like Bumi or captured like Izumi,” he hissed.

“No, I won’t. I’m just taking Oogie for a ride. You’ll have him back by morning.”

“No! I’m going to wake Mom and Dad and tell them.” She sighed.

“Sorry, Tenzin.” Then she bent the water from the trough and around him, throwing It back into the trough, freezing him in. 

“Don’t worry,” she said. “The bison will lick it and you’ll be out eventually.” She then climbed up onto Oogie and took him. She flew as fast as the young bison could go, to the flats and landed on top of a decrepit building.

“Good boy,” she gave him an apple. “Now, fly home.” It took a little convincing, but with a few more apples Oogie flew off into the night sky. Kya then ran into the tree-line just on the edge of the small town and waited.

__________________________________________

Every time Bumi had to make night rounds at camp, he made sure to check the main building for a potential entryway, and he found it in the form of poorly maintained locks on the windows. In the time since he’d formulated his plan, he’d been able to gather enough information on the sentry rotations to avoid detection once he made his move. All he had to do now was figure out which floor the logistic officers worked on. The opportunity soon appeared in the form of some back-breakingly heavy supplies.

“Cadet Bumi, Cadet Shen.” Came Sergeant Hyo’s voice. “Take this crate up to the fourth floor; Lieutenant Kim has to do an inventory.” Shen had groaned following Hyo’s departure, while Bumi sprung up at the opportunity to look inside.

“Yes, sir!” He snatched one side of the box and waiting impatiently for Shen to do the same.

Once inside, they hefted the wooden crate up the flights of stairs and into the stock room, passing offices in order of seniority, with the lowest ranking by the stock room. _They must do the grunt work_ , thought Bumi, noting Lieutenant Kim’s office as he passed. The stock room was a massive almost warehouse-sized place, packed with shelves upon shelves of supplies; as they slid the box across the floor, he tried to get an idea of the layout.

They passed foodstuffs and uniforms and were now approaching weapons. When they dropped their box and doubled back, Bumi began looking for a way to regain entry, searching frantically before locating a hidden latch on the door, tiny and close enough to the hinges to simply be mistaken for one. _In case the officers lock the keys inside_. Knowing now where things were held, he did a final glance to Lieutenant Kim’s office and after feeling satisfied with his investigation, continued out with Shen. All he then had to do was wait for his rotation on night duty.

This happened a few days later, and at around two in the morning, he found himself patrolling the building. After checking no sentries were around, he hoisted himself onto the first-floor windowsill. From there, he grabbed onto the overhanging ledge on the second floor and looked around again. Finally, he climbed up to the next ledge and slowly eased the window open before sliding in and closing it.

He cautiously made his way down the corridor before heading to Lieutenant Kim’s office. He took out a dull knife and wiggled it in the slit between the door and door frame, forcing the lock and walking in before gently easing it shut behind him. Once there, he immediately started searching through the cabinets before finding the weapons report from before. According to the page, there would be 70 swords, 12 crates of knives, each carrying 40 blades, and 60 rounds of ammunition. He put the slip in his pocket, replacing everything as it was before heading to the stock room.

He flicked the hidden latch, closing it and then using a lamp to find his way back to the crate. He consulted his page then pried open the lid to the crate before picking up the slip inside and counting: 60 swords, 10 crates of knives and 45 rounds. He had it. He then checked the slip from inside, continued back down the corridor and had just landed safely outside when he felt a terrifying tap on his shoulder.

“And just what do you think you’re doing here, Cadet?” Time moved slowly as he turned around and saw Sergeant Shiyu glaring at him.

“I- uh…”

“With me. Now.” She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him down a smaller path. “You have got _a lot_ of explaining to do. Just _what_ part of night patrol involves snooping around a level three access area? How dare you think that was in any way acceptable! If I had the authority, you’d be marching out with your duffel bag right this second.” He believed her, too.

They continued across camp until they reached a gated area, where she cuffed him and addressed him again.

“The Colonel will be here in the morning. Since you like hanging around outside your boundaries so much, you can wait for him here.” Then she marched away, leaving him.

She came back close to day break, not saying a word. She left him outside the Colonel’s tent, a slight breeze in the air. It flapped open the tent door slightly, and he could just see the Colonel putting on a shirt; as he did so, the Colonel’s body turned, revealing a very specific tattoo. Bumi froze. _No way_. He remained motionless even after the Colonel called him in. After the third call, his body seemed able to respond and he marched inside, coming to attention.

“So, Sergeant Shiyu informs me that you were caught snooping around a top security building. Might I ask _why?_ ” The man was as fearsome as Sunnuk had said; he lifted his palm, several small rocks circling with the movements of his fingers.

“I…uh-” 

“Do not mumble!” The blow nearly knocked him off his feet. When he looked back, the rocks that had hit him were returning to circling the Colonel’s palm, and the stone glove that had struck him was gone.

“I ran out of knives.” Bumi said, dumbfounded.

“And did you not report this with the weapons supplier?”

“I did but-”

“But what? You decided to get them yourself instead, in the middle of the night?”

“Yeah…”

The rocks once again formed a fist around the Colonel’s hand and he grabbed the collar of Bumi’s shirt.

“You will be punished. This issue will be sent up the Chain of Command and you will face a military tribunal. We do not tolerate theft, Cadet!” _Do we not?_ Given the ever-mounting proof to the contrary, Bumi wasn’t so convinced.

“Now, get out of my tent and await punishment. Go on, go!” Numbly, Bumi walked back to his cabin. He still had the stolen pages in his pocket but when he got to his bunk, Shen and Sunnuk had already headed out for day’s training. He caught up with them and tried to stay as calm as he could until lunch, at which point he was able to take the two of them off to the side.

******************************

“This had better not be what I think it is, Bumi.”

“Come on, Sunnuk. You said to convince Shen. Well, prepare to be convinced.” Bumi checked to see no one was watching them before unfurling the pages.

“And this is?” Shen eyed him skeptically.

“The first one is a page I managed to snag from Lieutenant Kim’s office last night-”

“What?!” 

“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, is indicates a shipment- the one you and I moved the other day- and lists how many weapons _should_ have been in the crate.”

“And the second?”

“A list of how many actually _were_ there; I even double-checked it myself. See the difference?” Sunnuk took the sheets.

“Less.” He stated simply.

“Exactly!”

“Yeah, but this could have been a command decision,” Shen said.

“It could, except shipment changes need to be approved by two officers and a witness. How many signatures do you see?”

“Just the Colonel’s…” Shen trailed off. _Finally_ , he was getting somewhere with his friends. 

“Yes! Just the Colonel’s. And Sunnuk, I had a correctional meeting with him this morning; he has the tattoo I saw on the other guy. He’s part of it.” Sunnuk went pale.

“Bumi, what you’re suggesting-”

“It’s bad, I know-”

“Bad?” Shen cut in. “ _Bad_ doesn’t even begin to describe this. If you’re wrong about the Colonel… Bumi, you could face a Court Martial for this!”

“I know. But I also know I’m right. Izumi’s theory was that the rebels were being supplied by the military,” their mouths were wide in shock, “and now we have the evidence to prove it. It’s all falling into place, don’t you see?” They didn’t seem to have a counter-argument at this point.

“That are you planning on doing?” Sunnuk asked.

“Look, I got caught snooping. The Colonel already has it in for me,” he showed them his bruises and cut skin. “I need to act sooner rather than later, and since we have no idea where Izumi and Kenji are, there’s also no knowing how long we have to find them. Sunnuk, you said you’d be with me if Shen was. So, what do you say, Shen?” 

Shen looked like he’d far rather be doing five hours of drill with Sergeant Shiyu if Bumi was honest with himself. Eventually however, he relented.

“Fine. I’m in. So, what’s the plan.”

“We leave tonight. We go after these people ourselves. We start where Kenji and Izumi were taken, and we don’t stop searching until we find them.”

Breaking rank proved to be more difficult than he’d anticipated. In response to his escapade the night before, the new recruits had a curfew, with more senior officers on night patrol. As if anticipating Bumi’s next move, they also spent a lot of time around Bravo’s cabin.

“Okay, boys. Looks like this is a major stealth mission. How do we get out?” Bumi’s hands felt tied- the Colonel definitely didn’t want him leaving the base. Perhaps he had an inkling that Bumi was onto him.

“Well, our best bet is to earthbend our way out,” Shen replied. “But it’ll be loud…”

“So, we need a distraction,” Sunnuk added. “I’m sure I can cause a little water damage for the old Colonel.”

“Good stuff. You guys all packed and ready to go then?” 

They nodded, and together the three of them climbed through the escape hatch on the ceiling and onto the roof. From there, Sunnuk summoned a small wave of water, holding it above the ground. There was no moon tonight, and the clouded sky made sure it created no shadow over the patrolling soldiers.

“Once you do that Sunnuk, we all need to be ready to jump.” From where he crouched, Shen assumed an earthbending position. 

Sunnuk nodded, then sprung into action. Picking up dirt and silt along the way, he created a sizable mud-slide, completely washing over the officers on duty. As they frantically searched for the source, Shen bent a hole in the ground and they jumped into it. He covered the top and dropped them deeper below the surface before expanding the tunnel ahead of them. They couldn’t see a thing, but they didn’t have time to linger either; this way would have to do.

After what felt to Bumi like a few kilometers, they ascended to the surface and could just make out the tallest watch tower behind them. They didn’t have long, so it was best to keep moving. It would take a few days for them to get anywhere near where they’d once been, but that was okay, they were on the right track. He had infiltrated a top security facility, been caught and threatened, and had now broken rank, essentially deserting his post and risking the steepest of punishments upon recapture, but Bumi could only smile as he and his friends ran into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

Izumi and Kenji sat together in the dark once again; having temporarily restored power to the machine, she and Kenji had promptly been returned to their cells. While she’d still been uncomfortably chained, she also noticed that the guards hadn’t pushed her into the back wall as they had the last time they’d dumped her in here.

“I think he knows who I am,” she said.

“Who?”

“The man in charge. It’s Colonel Sud. I remember seeing him at the Solstice while I was with the other officers and I pretty sure he recognised me, especially when I lightningbent. At this rate, he has to know I’m the Princess.”

“Shit. But, Izumi, he might not be completely sure, you could still pull this off. No offence but you’re covered in grime, your hair keeps falling in front of your face, and you aren’t even wearing Fire Nation clothes. Hardly the most regal-looking right now.”

“But I bent _lightning_. That’s still really uncommon, I’m not even sure anyone has really done it who wasn’t an imperial firebender or related to the Royal Family in _some_ way.”

“Fair enough, that was some pretty impressive firebending, and we could definitely use it to use it to obliterate that generator, maybe even do some structural damage to the base itself,” she could hear a smile in his voice. “But we won’t know what he knows until he calls your bluff, so just keep lying and in the meantime, we focus on getting you near our little ticking time-bomb, then you can really get things moving around here.”

“How do I get access again though? One good hit and I could completely take that thing out. I know I could, and then they’d be forced to evacuate the place. It’ll take them ages to rebuild an entire underground bunker of this size and we could escape or be found for sure at least.”

“Not sure, but the Colonel won’t even be here for long; he’s also in charge at camp overseeing basic training normally. There has to be someone else in charge of the actual operation of the base and that shot of lightning won’t be enough to fix the problem; they’ll probably still be doing maintenance for a while.”

“ _What_?”

“Yeah. That must be how he’s getting all these earthbenders. He’s recruiting them; he has a task force and they’re part of it! That explains why he only ever takes on earthbenders or Earth Kingdom nonbenders- no one else could ever be convinced to start attacking the Republic’s territory. There’s still a bit of heat in the Earth Kingdom communities about the Republic even existing, and the Colonel’s definitely old enough to have seen some of the war.”

“I knew it! Bumi and I discussed this. There’s no way a movement of this size _couldn’t_ be funded by the military. So, I guess he’s gonna come and get me soon, huh? Figure out who I am and use me for ransom or whatever.”

“He might, or if he does realise who you are, he might keep that card close to his chest. Not all of these rebels are going to be equally loyal to him or the movement. If he suddenly announces that he has the Princess of the Fire Nation, he might end up with even more trouble on his hands, especially if they try to pocket the money they’d get for ransoming you themselves.”

“Well, if that ends up being the case, we still need to force this movement above ground, but if they keep using you as leverage every time I go near the generator, I won’t be able to damage it without them slitting your throat.”

“Yeah, bit of a problem, that.” She laughed.

“No kidding.” 

A silence fell over the room again, it made her feel anxious and she began picking at the skin around her fingers, trying to unearth the clogged dirt that had accumulated under her nails. _Spirits, what I wouldn’t give to feel clean again_. Feeling that she’d more or less unearthed what she could, she sighed. She still had her reservations about Kenji after his weird reaction to initially meeting her but figured if stuck between talking to an essential stranger or sitting with her thoughts in the dark, she’d take the former.

“So, why would people want to attack the Republic in the beginning? I get they want to weaken the border but _why_ in the first place…”

“Because they think it should still be Earth Kingdom. I’m sure you know better than most about the Firelord and Avatar’s decision to partition the land away from the Earth Kingdom. I know the Earth King signed it away, but I guess more people disagreed with it than anyone thought.”

“Does your family disagree with it? You said your mom was Earth Kingdom, right?”

“Yeah, she is. But I think she has enough on her plate to deal with than joining any reclamation movement. Seven kids to keep out of trouble, and even with dad, it’s a lot.”

“Seven? Wow, yeah that definitely is a bit of a handful. And what are you then? Eldest? Baby?”

“Smack in the middle of the pack. What about you? You don’t have any siblings, huh? I don’t think I’ve heard of any other Fire Princes or Princesses.” She smiled.

“No, it’s just me, mom and dad. It can get a little boring at times, but I like it.”

“You never wanted siblings?”

“I just always knew it was never on the table, so I guess I didn’t bother thinking about it. Besides, this way I get all mom and dad’s attention, for better or worse. No sharing required.” Kenji chuckled.

“Must be nice. My parents didn’t even realise I’d enlisted until the Forces came for me. They were pretty shocked.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But speaking of the military again, I don’t agree with it what they’re doing here, but I think I can sort of understand why people would rebel.”

“How so?”

“Well, I only started thinking about it after Sunnuk pointed it out, but almost all the earthbenders- at least a lot of the ones who can’t metalbend too- get put on grunt work. I mean, med training always takes waterbenders and nonbenders like me, but fortification and responses to an offense? All the tough work needed to maintain and discipline a platoon? That’s all Earth Kingdom, and they don’t seem to get much recognition for it either.” 

He sighed. 

“I don’t know, maybe I’m imagining things because of Sunnuk, but it does explain why the high-ranking Earth Kingdom officers that there are tend to favour other Earth Kingdom recruits.”

“No, I don’t think you’re imagining it. At the Solstice, I must’ve met several senior officers and two _flag_ officers, but the Colonel was the only Earth Kingdom one with a high enough rank to be invited and show up. The officers I was with, they didn’t even seem to register he was there; they just said he’d rather be ‘crushing boulders’ or something instead.” He snorted.

“Let me guess, it was Fire Nation officers saying that?”

“Commodore Jinzuk, to be specific.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of that guy,” she could feel the irritation radiating off him. “From what we learned at school in the Republic, the Forces was a joint effort of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. The Water Tribes joined after. Anyway, because the Earth Kingdom had been in such disarray, there weren’t really a lot of senior officers left who could just join the Republic, so the Fire Nation contributed more officers than non-commissioned soldiers. Seems they’ve established a bit of an _Old Boys' Club_.”

She waited for him to continue.

“I mean don't get me wrong: my dad's side's from there, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s a problem with how the Forces is doing things or that there’s a disconnect between the Fire Nation officers and Earth Kingdom ordinaries, and no one wants to be the one to address it. I guess that’s kind of why I gravitated towards Bumi since he’s neither; he's just really easy to be around you know?” At the mention of Bumi, she smiled.

“Yeah. I’m sure he’s working on a way to track us down now too. He’ll be figuring out how to prove my idea about the military being involved in this mess.”

“I don’t doubt it.” There was a brief pause in the conversation.

“So, why’d you act so funny when you first met me?”

“Because you’re gorgeous and I’m an idiot. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, though.”

“No, it’s fine, I wasn’t uncomfortable, just surprised.” She chuckled. “I also wasn’t expecting such a frank answer.”

“I get it from my mom," she was sure he was smiling. "Us Earth Kingdom folk are nothing if not blunt. No time for your Fire Nation subtleties, and I guess a Princess has to deal with more than her fair share of politicians hiding their intentions.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” She rolled her eyes but then couldn’t help smiling; she was desperate to get out of here and back home.

They settled into another silence, more comfortable than the one from before. She slowly found herself nodding off, when their cell was illuminated by a gap in the wall.

“On your feet. Now.”

They were marched down a new series of tunnels that could only be accessed through earthbending. At the very end, the guard who had collected them opened a new hole and motioned for them to walk forward, closing the gap behind them. The man inside stood facing a map which outlined the border between the Republic and the Earth Kingdom.

“So,” he began. “It appears one of the two combatants we captured is not just a skilled firebender, but one that can create lightning, and with excellent control too.” He slowly turned to face them. “And that is why I would love it if you would tell, _Rina of the Dragon Flats_ : who are you really?”

“I don’t know what you’re-” He rolled his eyes and motioned to the earth around her. It swallowed her lower half, forcing her into a crouching position, then two more pillars of earth captured her shoulders and her wrists, securing them straight. More pillars appeared, only going as high as her waist, but headed towards the joint of her elbows.

“Now, now, _Rina_. We don’t _like_ liars here. So, unless you’d like to find out how much pressure it takes to snap a bone, I’d suggest being honest with me.”

“I told you already, I’m-”

The earth pillars rose again, this time just in line with her arm pits. She yelped and looked at Kenji, who was equally trapped.

“Do you want to try answering again? Or do you really have such a thirst for knowledge?”

“I told-”

“She’s Crown Princess Izumi of the Fire Nation.” The pillars stayed where they were. The Colonel directed his attention away from her.

“Tell me, boy. Who are you?”

“Kenji, sir.”

“And where are you from?”

“Republic City, sir.”

“How about your family?”

“The Earth Kingdom.”

“All of it? Kenji doesn’t sound particularly Earth Kingdom.”

“No sir, but I grew up in the shambles and my mother is Earth Kingdom.” He considered Kenji for a moment.

“Very quick to sell your friend out. Why?”

“She’s just a friend of a friend, sir. I barely know her, and I’m not about to risk my skin for an _ashmaker_ ,” he spat as he used the word. “Especially considering she’s their Princess, sir.” This seemed to satisfy the Colonel.

“What do you think of these ashmakers, Kenji?”

“They stole our land, then they forced us to either live in their new Republic or starve in the Earth Kingdom when they moved the refineries. I have no love for them.”

“And what have you been doing while you’ve been here, Kenji?”

“Working on the sick bay, sir.”

“Then you will continue to do so.” The earth he’d bent crumbled and he opened a new hole in the wall before calling to the guard outside.

“Remove his chains and take him away.” He walked back to where he’d been standing, returning to his map. “Lock the other one back up.”

As she was lead back to her cell, Kenji headed in a different direction, just before he turned the corner he looked at her, his face completely blank.

____________________________________________

They arrived around when they said they would, and as she heard Appa’s bellow and saw him land, Kya used her water bending to quickly scale a nearby tree. She looked down, watching as her parents and aunts and uncles descended from the great fluffy beast. She then watched as Toph slammed her foot into the ground, before faintly hearing her declare that there were three trails of interest, gesturing to each.

“So, which ones do we check first?” She heard her Uncle Sokka in the distance. “We only have two earthbenders.” 

She tried to listen to the rest of their discussion, but their voices were too low. She merely watched as they split up with Toph, Sokka and Mai heading in one direction and her parents and Zuko heading in another. They must have deemed the remaining trail less likely. At that moment, her dad dismissed Appa, and he began to soar, just passing the treeline.

Using her water as a rope, she managed to swing herself onto him as the rest of Team Avatar disappeared, startling him slightly.

“Hey, buddy!” She rubbed his head to soothe him, “it’s just me.” Appa seemed to recognize her voice and made no further objection to her presence.

Gently grabbing his reins, she steered him higher, so she could see her parents’ tiny figures. She could see what Toph had meant by the earthbenders leaving a trail: from her birds-eye view, jagged disruptions in the terrain were visible to her. She looped around, heading to where they’d once been and found the third trail; she could check if for them where she was and when her dad whistled for Appa to return, she would be ready to shorten their search time.

She lowered Appa so that she could get a better look at the trail, but there wasn’t much and it soon began to twist and turn until it was no longer visible from above the canopy. She went back to the last spot she’d been able to see it from and landed with Appa.

“Stay close, okay?” She scratched his face and saw him rise above the trees once again, following her as best as he could.

She then continued walking down the trail, but soon began to feel less certain of her previous decision after all. The trail was narrow and shaded and she felt almost trapped by it. If she _was_ suddenly ambushed, she’d be fighting them alone and there wouldn’t be much that Appa could do for her.

She was so jittery, that when she began to hear the voices, she immediately sprang into action. Pulling from her three water gourds, she quickly encased the figures in ice, making three blades and pointing them in front of her advisories. She had moved in such a blur that she had no idea who she was up against, until she heard a familiar voice squawk at her.

“What the _shit_ , Kya?” Her water fell to the ground and she dashed forward.

“Bumi!?” She grabbed his arms and face, trying to convince herself that she wasn’t hallucinating.

“Yeah. And thanks for _that_.” His irritation then turned to worry, “what are you doing out here?”

“Same as you, presumably?” He rolled his eyes.

“Kya, this is a dangerous mission. You shouldn’t-”

“No! I’m 15 years old and I’m a _good_ waterbender. You know I can help or at the very least while mom’s fighting, I can help anyone who’s been hurt. If these people are as dangerous as everyone thinks they are, they’ll probably leave quite a few casualties, right?”

Bumi looked torn. Finally, he looked at her and huffed.

“Fine.” He relented, “but you stay behind me at all times. I don’t need Dad getting on my case because you got captured, understood?” She leapt up and hugged him.

“Yes! Understood. Now, let’s go kick some rebel butt!” Her brother smiled.

“In order to kick their asses, we actually need to _find_ them.”

“True. So, did you guys come from that direction?”

“Yep. It’s a few days from camp and we didn’t see anything while we were there.”

“Okay, well I guess we’ll have to go back to the treeline and try to catch up with the adults. There’re two more trails, mom and dad went down one with Zuko, and Toph and Uncle Sokka went down the other with Mai.”

They’d almost been back at the clearing when a series of throwing stars flew past them.

“Stop right there, Cadet!” 

Kya turned to the unfamiliar voice and saw two people: a tiny woman with a star in each hand and a man with a jian brandished. She didn’t know what the issue was, but when she turned to look at her brother, he, Shen and Sunnuk were deathly pale.

“Hi, Sergeant,” Bumi squeaked, lamely waving his hand. “What uh… what brings you out here? Such a lovely day for a stroll, no?”

“Cut the shit, Cadet.” His face fell. “Now, would you care to explain to me what the _fuck_ you are doing here and not at camp? If I’m not mistaken, _you_ are supposed to be facing a tribunal for breaking into an unauthorised zone.” _Oh, Bumi_. He sighed.

“I know, Sergeant, but we have reason to believe that we know the identities of some of those involved in the attacks on the border. I won’t apologise, but I have to find my friends.”

“You have to stay at camp and finish your training; just who do you think you are? Being the Avatar’s son does _not_ give you a free pass to break the rules, no matter how right you think you are! We were sent after you to collect you and that is what we’re going to do, and you are going to be in so much trouble when we get back to camp, you’ll be lucky if you’re still in the Forces after. Now, come along, Cadet.”

Bumi didn’t move.

“This is an order from your superior officer, Cadet!”

He still didn’t move. The woman prepared to use another star, and Kya quickly prepared her water whip. The tension was palpable, each side waiting for the other to make the first move, but was suddenly shattered by Shen.

“Guys, I feel something!” He’d sprung into an earthbending stance, his eyes wide.


	8. Chapter 8

She didn't have much time to blow the generator.

She was starting to worry that perhaps they’d been able to fix it and would no longer require her services, but then she felt it in the air, a thinning that she hadn’t paid attention to the last time. She was already on her feet when the door in her cell appeared.

“Come with me.” The guard ordered.

She followed down the familiar path until she reached the generator room. It was even worse than before; no wonder she’d been able to feel the effects of it from her cell. She took off the sash that had been her belt and wrapped it around her mouth and nose as smoke billowed from the machine. Then, she began. With Kenji no longer there to ensure her good behaviour, she dragged her fingertips in huge loops, using her remaining energy to hold the electricity until she could feel her own hair sticking up from static. Then she hot her lightning. Not at the conductor, but directly at the machine.

The explosion was deafening, and the blast was powerful enough to scatter the smoke that had been billowing from the contraption, revealing a generator destroyed beyond repair and a now crumbling ceiling.

“What did you do, girl?” The guard frantically demanded.

“Nothing! I just bent lightning like the last time I fixed it!” 

“Now, what did I say about liars?” She froze; he was back.

She tried to evade him, but the chains around her ankles only allowed for so much movement and he quickly apprehended her, grabbing her bicep. The strength of his grip threatened to break her arm, and she yelped in pain.

“Evacuate the base immediately!” He ordered, pulling her alongside him as they marched with the rest of the Reclamation Movement. She had no idea where Kenji was, but she gave a cursory glance just in case. _He got himself out of the equation so I could do this_ , she realised.

When they reached the surface, the shock made her completely forget the pain in her arm. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to breath clean air, and more importantly, to feel the sun on her skin. She must have been underground for at least a week, and now an involuntary reflex made her tip her head up and close her eyes. She didn’t even register the Colonel continuing to drag her away.

Rays of warmth immediately bounced off her skin, almost burning sensation was euphoric to her. She could feel the energy soaking into her body, and when she was finally able to pull her face away, she felt its delicious heat soaking into her scalp and neck. What parts of her hands she could make out through the grime that utterly covered her were shocking. Her once porcelain skin was now a sickly, almost translucent pasty colour.

Even as she continued walking, she felt a sense of calm and joy wash over her that had been completely forgotten under the ground. Perhaps it was merely the circumstances of being a prisoner, or perhaps there was a reason Firelords of old had often thrown their rivals deep into caves where once had been active volcanoes; the lack of sunlight for too long was probably enough to drive a firebender mad.

It was only with a particularly stubborn jerk that she was pulled from her basking and back to the furious Colonel.

“There is a price on your head, Princess. For what you’ve done today, I will make you suffer and then I will sell you to the highest bidder and hope they increase your pain tenfold!” He hissed.

She was so disoriented after her days underground that she couldn’t figure out where they were or where they were headed, and even if she tried, she looked around and saw she was still vastly outnumbered. Even if she managed to escape, it would only be a matter of time before she got lost or recaptured. As she was trying to further analyse her situation, she felt a pinch on her arm farthest from the Colonel and saw the back of someone’s head, someone familiar. _Kenji_. He knew that she had been the one to destroy the base and that she was now trapped. She saw his figure continue a little father then slow down, staying close but hidden in the wave of rebels.

There wasn’t much he could do for her right now, but she did know people would still be looking for her. As she walked, she firebent with the soles of her feet, snuffing out the flames as she stomped down. It was enough to singe the grass beneath her but small enough not to be detected. To some it would just look like a strange phenomenon, but to those searching for a missing firebender, it would be a clear path to follow.

_____________________________________________

Shen was frantic.

“Guys, whatever that was, it was huge, and it came from underground.” Shiyu looked at Bumi then back to Shen; it appeared their argument would have to wait until later.

“Do you think it’s the rebels?” Kya asked.

“I have a strong feeling it is.” Bumi responded. “Shen, where do you think it came from?” 

The other cadet pointed in a direction adjacent to the trail.

“I think there must be some sort of clearing, or at least some area with fewer tree roots.”

“Perfect for an underground base,” Bumi mused.

He started running as fast as his feet would carry him, and he felt like he’d been running for days by the time the brush began to thin. Before him lay a mess of rubble. When the others caught up, he turned back to Shen.

“Do you think you can move this around? Find any sign of tunnels or caverns that wouldn’t have formed naturally?” Shen nodded and got to work. Before long, he’d unearthed a heavily damaged chunk of metal. Bumi, Sunnuk, Kya and the two Sergeants ran up to inspect it.

“What do you think?” Sergeant Hyo moved closer.

“It looks like a-”

“Bumi?” Bumi jumped and decided if one more of his relatives tried and give him a heart attack today he’d flip. He looked from the machine, eyes darting around before settling on Sokka.

“Hey, Uncle Sokka,” he watched as Toph and Mai came into the clearing.

“What are you doing out-” His mother cut him off as she, his father and Zuko appeared too.

“Bumi, just what on earth are you doing-”

“I’m looking for Izumi and Kenji!” He snapped. “Let’s just assume everyone here right now is looking for them and get it over with.”

He felt his father’s eyes digging into him but refused to meet them.

“Bumi, what did I specifically tell you?” He sounded on the verge of losing his temper. 

“I don’t care what you told me, dad!” Now he looked up. Everyone else was still. “I don’t care that you told me to stay out of it. I’ve been part of this ever since they took my friends!”

“Bumi-”

“Not only that, but I _know_ who’s behind this and I have evidence, so you need to get off my back and let me help. I can’t just sit here while you run around making no progress in tracking these people down when I know I can help!” His father looked furious, but he no longer felt anything. They continued to stare each other down until Toph interrupted. 

“If you two are quite finished, there’s a whole mess of disturbed earth heading _that way_ ,” she pointed off to her left.

Bumi headed in the direction without another word, his friends and Kya following him. Toph continued guiding them until eventually the tunnels and jagged earth she’d been using dissipated.

“What do you mean the trail’s gone?” His mother asked. “They can’t have just vanished into thin air!”

“Right you are, Sugar Queen, but I’m guessing they stopped bending to cover their tracks. Something tells me they didn’t plan on leaving that bunker and when they did it was in a panic, hence the reckless earthbending. They’ve been able to regroup since.” She stomped down. “we’re near a river; they probably have some form of transportation there.”

As Toph began to lead them to the river, Bumi noticed something odd about the path they were on: the lush green grass had brown patches, coming in twos, roughly one step away from the last. He followed as the patches continued. They were tiny, the area of grass roughly the size of a foot, a _human_ foot.

“Uh, guys!” He shouted back to the retreating figures who turned to face him.

“What is it, Bumi?” Zuko asked, his tone sharp. Bumi soundlessly gestured to the singed earth as Zuko, Mai and the group approached them. When he saw what Bumi had been pointing to, his good eye widened.

“It looks like-”

“Firebending.” Mai finished. They shared a glance before sprinting after the trail, everyone else at their heels.

“Good find there, Bumi,” Kya punched his arm as she ran in step with him. In front he saw Toph take an earthbending stance.

“Toph, what are you doing?” Aang asked. She grinned.

“Just a bit of metalbending.”

______________________________________

 

Izumi would recognize that rumble in the earth anywhere and she smiled; a Beifong was nearby, and by the feel of it, it was the strongest one. The Colonel jumped, and she tried to keep her expression equally confused. She looked down and saw the chains binding her were trembling. When they broke apart with a resolute snap, she was ready.

She sprang into action, twisting out of his grip and shooting twin jets from her fists, aimed at his face. When he ducked she leaped into the air, twirling as he failed to trap her feet. She may have been at a disadvantage underground, but right now she had the sun shining down on her, fueling her fire with each strike.

The other rebels soon closed around her, but she was able to catch a glimpse of Kenji as he turned, ready to slice their attackers with two blades. She focused on the Colonel and soon other elements appeared to assist her. Vast swaths of rebels were washed away by an enormous tidal wave controlled by Katara, Kya and Sunnuk, and the rebels own earth began to turn against them with ease.

“Is that all you’ve got?” A wonderfully familiar voice mocked. “I’ve had tougher sparring sessions with my daughters!” 

She continued fighting the Colonel and at this point, his blows were becoming frantic and out of control. He prepared to send a tirade of spikes down upon her, when a blast of fire and a knife flew past her, aimed for his throat. He dodged fast enough to avoid being burnt, but the knife whizzed across his cheek, slicing into the muscle and sinew, spilling blood down his face. He yelled in pain, and she turned to see her parents. Her father looked relieved beyond belief to see her; her mother looked annoyed that her blade had missed its mark. 

The three of them continued fighting and she saw Kenji and Bumi teaming up together nearby. Under her parents’ cover, she dragged her arms through the air, feeling the glorious sensation of energy. Her parents jumped out of the way, and she let her lightning fly, but as she was about to hit her target, he summoned a wall of earth. It crumbled, and she ran around, but he was gone. Suddenly, the earth around her sprung up, trapping her and her family, and he reappeared hovering a boulder above her head.

“The Fire Nation Royal Family. What at _honour_ it is.” He looked to her and then her parents. “Do you remember who once owned this mess of a land you call the Republic? Do you remember the people who once stood here?” She glanced around: everyone was engaged elsewhere, even the Avatar. While they would soon come to their aid, there was no telling how soon that would be.

“The Earth Kingdom! This was the land that my family fought and died for. And what happened when we won? You and your Avatar kept it for your own pet project! This was all my people had!” He then turned to her, smiling. “Well, allow me show you how it feels, to lose that which is most precious to you.”

She couldn’t see either of her parents. She felt her father roaring fire at the Colonel, but he was too far away. He was about to crush her, when a flash tackled him by the torso, his boulder missing her by inches. The Colonel immediately threw off his attacker.

“Boy from the prison,” he began, his earth slowly forcing Kenji into an awkward crouching position. “What could possess you to betray your people in this way?”

“I’m not betraying them. Like it or not, this land is part of the Republic, and you don’t have the right to-”

“No, boy. This _is_ Earth Kingdom land. _Our_ land. It was _ours_ before they came in, imposing their Fire Nation officials and tearing away at what had been sacred and ours for generations!”

“I _know!_ I know what they did, but this isn’t the way to fix these wrongs. I’m part of this land too, I understand-”

“Understand, boy?” Colonel Sud bent his earth to encompass Kenji’s right arm. “No, you could never know. You never knew a time before this wretched Republic, with its Fire Nation politicians and businessmen. It’s still a colony, regardless of what the Avatar says. Our people, we are a people _connected_ to our _land_. It is a part us and we are a part of it. For 100 years, the Fire Nation had festered like an open wound on our land, on _us_. And when the Avatar and the Firelord took our land, rather than healing the wound, it was like losing a part of our own body; like losing an _arm!_ ”

She couldn’t decide if it was the screams or the wet crunch that sounded worse.

___________________________________________

 

Toph finished her metalbending stance and moved to keep running with them. As he continued, Bumi saw Izumi up ahead, spiralling and kicking, sending streams of fire at the Colonel. He then saw Kenji fighting off the rebels that got too close to her. To his right, his mother came in with a tsunami accompanied by Kya and Sunnuk, while Toph effortlessly bent the earth around her. He ran forward with his knives, ready to attack.

There were so many of them and they wouldn’t yield, no matter how hard Team Avatar came down on them. Soon, Shiyu and Hyo were with him, and the nonbenders took on their earthbending foes. Bumi ran forward, Hyo and Shiyu on either side, and in a flurry of earth and metal, they began to push them back. Kenji soon appeared nearby while Zuko and Mai found their daughter in the fray. They were making quick work of them, until one of the rebels managed to trap Bumi’s foot, pulling him down.

The earthbender went to send shards of earth at Bumi’s head, but Shiyu leapt into the air, her throwing stars making contact with his chest. Relieved, Bumi watched her as he got back to his feet. He was momentarily distracted and didn’t notice the newly appeared rebel behind her. She continued gracefully through the air, but never landed. A sharpened turret of earth rose up just before her feet could make contact, impaling her through her gut. With haggard breaths and coughed up blood, she slowly slid down the spike, dropping her stars, her body limp.

Hyo jumped over her, spinning and cleanly slicing through her killer’s neck. Bumi was ready this time, and he sent three knives straight into a new attacker, each hitting their mark. The fight seemed to quiet around them, and he and Hyo could only stare at the other Sergeant’s body before Shen appeared.

“Is that…” his voice cracked. “No, no way!” Sunnuk appeared too, touching her body before turning to Shen and shaking his head. Shen gently lowered her, bending the spike back into the earth.

He then looked around; he could tell the rebels were being pushed back and it wouldn’t be long before they were overpowered, but every time he tried to move to help, his limbs felt like iron weights and he kept looking back at the sergeant, even after Hyo, Shen and Sunnuk had gone on.

“I’m sorry, Serg.” He said numbly, “I really am.”

He thought he’d be stuck there, staring at her body for the rest of his life, when suddenly a scream tore his attention away. He ran to the source and then heard a blast and crumbling of earth. 

There, he saw Izumi, standing and assuming a bending position, looking sick. On the ground, Kenji was limp and there was something terribly wrong with him. Izumi faced the Colonel and seemed to predict his next move; she aimed her fire at Colonel Sud’s gut which instead hit his chest as he ducked. Her blast had been so strong that he didn’t even yell out in pain, he was forced backwards, landing on his side, his torso charred and his shirt in tatters.

At that moment, his dad appeared, running past him and bending the earth away from Zuko, Mai and Kenji. He almost threw up when he saw Kenji’s arm. It was mangled, well and truly. It vaguely reminded him of the time he’d sat on one of Kya’s water gourds and burst it, only this time blood came oozing out accompanied by chunks of flesh and shattered bone. His hand was flat, his fingers splattered, seemingly blending into each other.

“Mom!” He yelled. She dispatched her own enemies and came running, stopping next to him as she saw the object of his attention. Then she darted forward, her son forgotten, and he heard his father’s voice.

“Izumi, what happened?”

“I took him down.” She responded, her face blank as she continued looking at the Colonel.

“Is he dead?” His dad asked.

“Don’t know.” She didn’t sound like she cared, either.

Things moved fast after that. The rest of his family and friends seemed to have neutralized the threat and his dad called for Appa. Izumi was immediately wrapped in her parents’ arms, and once she looked away from the Colonel she returned their embrace with equal ferocity, her face reddening and her eyes welling up. She sank to the ground and her parents went with her, holding her until she stopped trembling.

He vaguely heard Toph give the all clear, then turned away. He found a solitary patch on the ground, away from the destruction that had ended moments before and tried to make himself as small as possible. He yelped when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Bumi,” his dad said. “It’s time to go.” 

At some point, he got up and mounted Appa.


	9. Chapter 9

Katara had just finished looking her over and began to put her water away when she finally realised she couldn’t go without knowing any longer.

“Did I kill him?” Katara jumped; it was probably the first thing she’d said since they returned to Air Temple Island and she’d been in a silent state of shock. She looked back to Izumi, her gaze soft.

“No, sweetheart. Almost, but no. He’s still alive.” Then she took Izumi’s hands in her own. “How does that make you feel?”

“I don’t know.” She answered honestly. Katara nodded and left her alone in the bath house that had also been functioning as a small healing centre.

Izumi walked over to the mirror, taking a long look at herself. Her skin was no longer as pasty as before, but she was covered in bruises and small gashes; her eyes were slightly sunken too, with dark bags underneath.

One of the baths near her had been filled, so she stuck her hand in and bent until the water was practically boiling. She stripped off her clothes that she’d been wearing since the first day in the flats and shot a controlled flame at them, watching as they slowly smoldered. Then, she ran a hand through her limp and greasy hair to the back of her neck where the crusted blood was still clinging to her skin.

She put one foot in, relishing the hot water, then the other, before finally she was sat up to her shoulders. Once she felt ready, she held her breath and submerged herself, scraping away at the blood and grime that covered her body. She grabbed the hair ointments on the side and methodically ran her fingers through the knots that had formed and scrubbed her scalp. She then took the body oils and a sponge, rubbing and rubbing until her skin felt raw. Once she’d finished, she went under one more time, rinsing everything away before getting out of the bath; the water was almost brown from the dirt that had been stuck to her.

She picked up a towel, drying herself off and wrapping her hair in another before putting on the soft cotton robe Katara had left in the room She returned to the mirror and to her relief, she began to recognize herself.

She walked back to the room she’d been staying in, finding a red and gold tunic and pants. The fabric was light but just wearing her Fire Nation things again felt like a warm blanket had been draped over her. Putting her still damp hair in a loose braid she took a deep breath, then headed out to meet the others.

They were sat in the living room. Her parents were on a small couch off to the side and she walked over, sandwiching herself between them. She didn’t care how childish it looked, and no one commented, while they seemed more than happy to have her nestled there. Then Sokka stood up.

“So, we’ve been able to completely disband the rebels, thanks to Izumi over here blowing up what appeared to be there only base from the inside,” he grinned at her and she smiled back. “And we also have our head honcho in custody. Again, thanks for that.” The eyes around the room fell on her appreciatively and she gladly sank into her parents’ embrace.

“Now, Bumi. You said you were able to find evidence at camp too?”

“Yeah, uh,” he seemed as subdued as she felt. “While I was there, I infiltrated one of the buildings; I saw that the Colonel had been stealing weapons and money and signing off on it. I also saw that he had a badgermole tattoo on his arm like the other guy I mentioned.”

“Have we checked those in custody for similar markings?”

“Yep,” said Toph. “So far, they’re consistent.”

She and Bumi shared a smile. _We were right_.

“Awesome,” Sokka continued. “Well, I guess that’s pretty much it. We take Sud to court, yada yada. Anyone got anything else to add?” 

Much to the surprise of everyone in the room, Izumi raised her hand.

“I know what the Colonel was doing was wrong, but he sort of had a point.” Despite their surprised expressions, no one moved to interrupt her.

“At least in the Forces, the power structures at play are almost entirely tipped in favour of Fire Nation citizens. Even at the Solstice celebrations, pretty much all the senior and flag officers were Fire Nation. The Earth Kingdom soldiers make up most of the Forces, but they’re constantly put in the most dangerous or menial positions and even the military code of conduct seems more Fire Nation than anything else.” She met her dad’s eye before continuing.

“Even on our way out to the flats, the towns on the outskirts are consistently poor and consistently comprised of Earth Kingdom people. Again, I know the way Sud went about this was wrong, but it’s starting to look like something pretty important fell by the wayside here.” The room was silent, then Bumi spoke too.

“Well, I can’t confirm for the whole Republic, but yeah, I have seen this in the military; pretty much all the commissioned officers are Fire Nation.”

Sokka stroked his goatee.

“Looks like we have some more investigating to do after this is over and we also need to make sure there aren’t any Reclaimers on the Earth Kingdom side of the boarder.”

Aang nodded.

“I’ll head out first thing in the morning and meet with the local magistrates. Whoever else is still involved, we’ll catch them too.” 

That seemed to be the end of the meeting, and she was left to simply sit with her parents, eventually falling asleep.

________________________________________________

After their meeting dissolved, Bumi found himself pacing around the Island. Shen and Sunnuk had refused to go back to camp and he found them sparring by the cliffs. When they saw him, they dropped their elements.

“What do you guys say we go visit our comrade?” They both looked apprehensive but smiled; none of them had really been able to see Kenji since Katara had gotten to him. They’d been told he was alive but that was about it.

When they reached him, they saw Toph was also there.

“Watcha doing?” He asked as she worked.

“Getting a feel for the new arm.” She responded, continuing her ministrations.

_Oh, right_. Kenji’s arm had been _fucked_ , and that was putting it nicely. When he looked past her, he saw Kenji was awake. His eyes were red, but none of them mentioned it. He wandered around and saw Toph’s handiwork: it was detailed, almost an exact replica of the left arm she’d been touching, just flipped.

“Done.” She announced, getting up to leave. “This will be sent off to be cast in platinum and hollowed out. It’s too pure to bend, so you won’t have to worry about some random metalbender stealing it at least.” He couldn’t help it, he snorted. All of his friends turned to face him, and he began to see something in Kenji’s face that was recognisable from before all this mess.

“You doing…well, I guess I can’t ask if you’re doing okay, huh? That’d be pretty dumb.” He took Toph’s spot.

“Been better, I guess. You’re right though…it’d be pretty ridiculous if some rando just…just stole my fucking arm!” He started laughing. Then crying. A lot. To his surprise, Bumi found his own cheeks were damp too. _Spirits, I’ve been so scared_ he finally admitted to himself. It was like a dam had broken. Everything he’d been feeling just came out as he cried. Howling and taking short gasps, he grabbed onto Kenji, who clutched back just as fiercely despite being an arm down.

“You know,” Bumi said between hitched breaths. “Just having this new arm… you’re gonna be moving more metal that Shen could if he trained for the rest of his life… and you’re not even a _bender!_ ” 

This elicited a punch from Shen but a laugh from Kenji, so Bumi decided it was worth it. They spent the next while crying and laughing and just being around each other. It seemed to ease the pain a bit.

****************************************************

He found Hyo after a while. Apparently, he’d been in the communications room talking to Command about what to do with Bumi and his friends, and Sergeant Shiyu.

“Is it too soon to…I guess… what’s going on, Sergeant?” They’d just left Kenji to rest and he felt drained. Hyo turned to them.

“Don’t expect any parades in your honour for taking down a terrorist cell, Cadet. It appears your reward is _not_ being dishonourably discharged for desertion. You’ll return to training as soon as possible.” He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Thank you, Sergeant. And what about Kenji?” The Sergeant’s face fell.

“I don’t know yet. It’ll be hard for him, but he had already passed the field portion before…well before this. He should still be on track to finish. If he isn’t discharged, some adjustments will need to be made.”

“Thank you, sir.” He smiled, and not wanting to disturb the Sergeant any longer, Bumi and his friends turned to leave. On their way, Hyo called them back.

“One more thing, Cadet.” He turned to face the solemn man. “She always said you had potential. Don’t let her down.” 

Bumi nodded, then the Sergeant turned, leaving them alone in the hallway. He and his friends turned and headed out to the training grounds to spar or maybe even just lay outside, when another voice caught his attention.

“Bumi.” He spun and saw Aang standing there.

“Hi, Dad.” His friends seemed to have taken a few steps back, leaving him to face his father alone. He continued staring at his father, until the man gestured that he follow him in the other direction. With a rueful glance to his comrades, who nodded at him, he joined his father.

They walked out of the temple in silence, his father had the same expression he’d seen whenever the council dealt him a problem he didn’t know how to deal with, and Bumi suspected that right now, _he_ was the problem being dealt with. The lush trees soon faded away into jagged rocks and sand, and eventually they stood together facing out to sea.

“So, uh,” he thought he could feel a trail of sweat falling down his back. “You planning on saying anything, or are we just doing a bit of wave watching?”

“You did well, Bumi.” He began choking on the breath in his lungs. 

“ _What?_ ” He was sure his eyes must have been bulging out of his face with disbelief.

“You did well. Yes, you broke several rules and you put your friends in danger which I will _definitely_ be mad about for some time, but we wouldn’t have caught those rebels without you and Izumi. You two should be proud of yourselves. I am.”

Bumi couldn’t say anything. He’d always seen his father as this larger than life figure, always watching and judging. Sure, he’d always seemed to have a soft spot for his and Kya’s mischievous antics but ever since Tenzin had been born, Bumi felt like he’d forgotten all about his two other children; he didn’t really remember spending that much time with him since then. To suddenly hear this praise, after so many years of feeling inadequate, left him feeling almost scared above anything else.

“Thanks,” he whispered. 

Then, his father put his arm around him, and it was like Bumi could feel the weight of not just the arm, but his father’s duties to the world landing on his own shoulders too.

“I didn’t like the idea of you joining the Forces, you and I know I had a hard time keeping that a secret. And yes, part of it was because of the nature of the military, but do you know the main reason I had such difficulty accepting your choice?” He turned to him, a tired smile on his face, and Bumi silently shook his head.

“It was because I wasn’t ready for you to be a part of this; this danger and responsibility. You and your siblings will always seem so young to me, but I must accept now that you _are_ a part of this- Izumi too. You’re both old enough and what’s more, you _want_ to be a part of our legacy, and to help protect it. I have to let you.” Bumi was once again unsure of what to say to his father.

“Thank you.” Aang smiled.

“Of course, for the time being, I would very much appreciate it if you finished your training and kept out of trouble. Think you could manage that?” Bumi smirked.

“I’ll do my best, dad.” Then his father squeezed him tightly and kissed the crown of his head.

“That’s all I’ll ever ask, Bumi.”  
______________________________________________________

The trial followed two weeks later, and while her mother and father had been skeptical about her attending, she’d been adamant about being there. He looked awful, and before the court, Colonel Sud was found guilty of treason against the Republic, inciting violence, and several other crimes. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Throughout the trial, his eyes hadn’t left her once, and while at first, she’d been determined to stare back at him, after a while she got bored of the game he was trying to play. She didn’t need to keep looking back, there was nothing more he could do to her.

Marched out in chains he couldn’t bend, he silently left, spitting on the floor of the courtroom before crossing the threshold of the exit. As court was dismissed, she found herself next to Katara.

“I’m glad I didn’t kill him,” she said. “This is better.”

“I think so too,” she replied.

She continued wandering. Sometimes stopping to chat, sometimes not, until eventually she saw Sokka and Aang with the military men she’d met at the Solstice.

“But of course, Councilman Sokka,” she heard Commodore Jinzuk. “This nonsense must not be permitted to happen again. Those people must learn that brute force is no way-”

“ _Those people_ , as you so generously put, must have their positions and work recognised, and must not be kept from succeeding in the Forces simply because they are not Fire Nation, _Commodore_.” Jinzuk looked aghast, and when Sokka caught her eye, he smiled.

“What Councilman Sokka is saying is right, Commodore,” she heard Aang next. “Fix the problems in your military, or you’ll be dealing with me next.”

The pair of them walked towards her, leaving an open-mouthed Jinzuk in their wake.

“If he leaves his mouth open much longer, a spider-moth is gonna fly in,” she said.

“No kidding!” Sokka laughed. “Honestly, the nerve of that guy…”

“Unfortunately, I think there are more like that where he came from.” Aang said.

They continued walking, eventually meeting with her parents.

“How are you doing?” Her mom asked. “You seemed a little bored there today.”

“Eh, just bored of Sud glaring daggers into me.” Her dad looked unimpressed. “Lost its edge after a while.”

Aang and Sokka continued on their way to talk to the Council members. They’d been going on about having to do an investigation into the inequality between the nations which made up the United Republic and seemed eager to get to work.

“How are you really doing, Izumi?” Her mom asked once she was alone with her parents.

“I’m okay, I think. More or less at least.” She looked down at her hands, “I’ll be glad once this is all behind us for sure.” Her parents each put an arm around her.

“We’re so proud of you, Turtleduck.” Her father said.

“Dad, do _not_ call me that in public! I’m not a little girl anymore.” He squeezed her tightly, resting his chin on the crown of her head.

“I know,” he said simply. “I also don’t care.” 

She groaned, rolling her eyes, and her mother chuckled. Then she relaxed into her parents’ embrace and her mind began to wander.

“So, has that rice subsidy been implemented yet?” Her dad snorted.

“Funnily enough, I forgot all about it in the time my daughter was abducted.”

“What happened to serving the nation above all else?”

“Firelords get distracted.”

“Fireladies too,” her mother added. “Especially when the Crown Princess goes missing.”

“But not to worry,” her dad said. “I’m sure you’re more than ready to handle the paperwork once we get back to the Fire Nation.”

“Can’t wait.”

She continued with her parents, making their way to the docks on foot, talking about everything and nothing, simply enjoying each others’ company. It was one of the things she loved about the three of them; everyone always saw her mother’s cold exterior or her father’s hot temper, but she knew the people underneath, fitting snuggly in the middle. From her vantage point, she knew who the Firelord and Firelady really were; the way her mom teased her dad, or he said something soppy to make her blush. It always made a smile etch its way across her face.

They got to the docks just as Bumi and his friends disembarked on their way back to training.

“Jerkbender!” Her parents got onto the ferry as he barreled into her. “Come to see your soldier boy off to battle?” He dramatically swooned into her arms. She unceremoniously dropped him.

“Of course,” she quipped. “Wouldn't _dream_ of letting you go without one last farewell!” She pretended to tear up, waving her sash like a hanky.

She gave him a real hug before turning to his friends, who looked rather amused. She tried to gauge how Kenji was doing. It would take time for him to adjust but he seemed to be doing okay given the circumstances. His new arm fit well, and he’d take to wearing a cape draped over it, the shining hand just visible across his torso. With his now clean-shaven face no longer covered in dirt, he looked- well, he looked alright, actually.

“So, when will you lot be allowed to receive letters?” She finally asked.

“In a couple of weeks,” Kenji said. “We’ve almost finished basic and then it’s all good." She and Kenji shared a glance.

“I’ll write to you then. Give you a reason to practice with that other hand.”

“I’d like that very much," he gave her a shy smile. "I look forward to hearing from you, Princess.”

“Blegh!” Bumi interrupted. “I’m _right here_ , guys!” She couldn’t help but laugh.

“Don’t worry, Cadet. Definitely expect letters from me too.”

They were soon called away, and she rejoined her parents just in time to sail back to the island. She watched the setting sun glinting off the water of Yue Bay and smiled to herself. Her parents may have saved the world, but she and her friends would play an important role in protecting the progress they’d made. For now, however, she couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than finally going home, and maybe even getting started on that paperwork.


End file.
